Kyle XY, Season Four
by AMysteriousAuthor
Summary: Season Four of Kyle XY, More info as the season progresses
1. Episode One: Family Ties

Four

A Kyle XY FanFiction

By: AMysteriousAuthor

**Underlined italics represent Kyle's narration. **

**I am in no official way associated with Kyle XY. **

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Episode One: Family Ties

_I had never felt such anger, but looking into his eyes I knew he wasn't lying. How could the man in my hand be my brother? _

The glass crackled under Kyle's feet as he slowly lowered his arm. His grip loosened slightly, and Cassidy inhaled quickly. His feet touched the floor, but Kyle's confused and almost angry look did not disappear as he let go of the throat in his hand. Cassidy coughed and bent over, holding the broken door frame for support.

"Tell me everything you know." Kyle said with frustration.

Cassidy looked up at him and cleared his throat and then slowly stood up, keeping his eyes locked to Kyle's.

"You never questioned it, did you Kyle?" Cassidy asked, cocking his head.

"I'm questioning it _now_, so tell me. How can you be my… brother?" Kyle asked.

"Even when you _knew_ that Jessi had to have a father, and that Sarah was her _mother_,you never wondered if you had one too." Cassidy said, moving the hair from his face.

"But Adam said…"

"Adam? Adam didn't know whose egg was used. Our mother would have never told him that she had done it herself, he never trusted her. She always had a certain… way about her, a way that made it seem like she's betraying you somehow." Cassidy said, looking thoughtful.

"And she's… she's the head of Latnok?" Kyle asked.

"She's on the board; there is no _true_ head of Latnok. You met her; the night of prom… she was in the room with us." Cassidy said, smirking slightly.

"And is _she_ who my family is with now?" Kyle asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm your family, Kyle, our mother is your family… the Tragers were just a temporary solution!" Cassidy said as he pulled out the shocking device that used Latnok rings as electric generators.

Suddenly, the device flew out of his hand and an arm wrapped around Cassidy's, wrenching him around and into a guillotine choke hold that was applied for roughly ten seconds before he lost consciousness. Tom Foss dropped him, and looked at Kyle's disbelieving face without remorse.

"Kyle, looks like you've had a productive evening." Foss said without a smile.

"He has the Tragers, he said at the Rack but I don't know if he was lying or not." Kyle said emotionally.

"Relax. Breathe, and focus… you're not going to be a help to them if you're panicking. Cassidy had two guys in your yard and one on the roof, they weren't a problem but I think there's more around here." Foss said, looking up slightly.

"We need to go, my family is in danger." Kyle said, jogging off the porch and around the corner of the house, Foss following close behind.

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Amanda's face scrunched as she tried to read the text as quickly as Jessi was scrolling it. Jessi's face, which kept changing into more and more shock, was slowly driving Amanda crazy.

"What is it?" Amanda finally burst out.

Jessi looked at her with a concerned look, then back at the screen, and once more back to her.

"Kyle. This page is a notebook chronicling before his conception and afterwards." Jessi said, looking back.

"Why would there be files about the Petersons on here?" Amanda asked.

"The what?" Jessi asked, irritably.

"The Petersons? Kyle's family, his birth parents." Amanda said incredulously.

"Oh… yeah, them." Jessi said coldly, clicking off the page.

"Them? Are you serious? I mean, I know you're not the _nicest _person but to not even know who his _parents_ are?" Amanda said, straightening up and crossing her arms.

"Let's not get into what we know about Kyle, you'll just come away with a stupid look." Jessi said as she wiped the drive.

"What's that supposed… oh. Right." Amanda said, looking sideways.

"Let's get out of here, that's all taken care of." Jessi said, picking up the folders containing the last notes from the experiments.

As they went to leave, Jessi stopped and looked down at everything she was holding. All the records of Adam's work, of her mother's work, and it was all in her hands.

"Amanda." Jessi said quickly, Amanda turned around.

"You should take these, if I take them then I'll destroy them and Kyle might want to look at them first." Jessi said, handing her the files.

"So why me? You don't trust me. You don't even like me." Amanda said confusedly taking the stack of files.

"This isn't about you. Kyle deserves a choice… in this, and other parts of his life. It's only fair to him." Jessi said, eyes watering slightly as she led the way out the door with Amanda following.

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Stephen pulled up to the Rack, cutting off the car and looking over to Nicole with a serious look.

"Alright, here we go. You ready?" he asked.

"To actually get to help Kyle with a bad guy, damn straight we're ready." Josh said from the back seat, opening his door.

"Josh, hold on a second… Are you both clear about what we're doing?" Nicole asked, turning around.

"Going in, and either helping Kyle or running away." Lori said cynically.

"Right. So be careful and stay together… we don't know what could be in here." Stephen said and the family got out of the car.

They moved as a unit, Stephen and Nicole on the far sides, Josh and Lori in the middle as they approached the darkened Rack. Stephen opened the door, Josh followed closely behind and hit a light. The room was devoid of people, and everything was clean and where it was supposed to be. They four moved round slowly, looking around the few hiding places there were and then stopped to look at each other.

"There's no one here." Stephen said, hands on his hips and his mouth frowning slightly.

Suddenly the doors flew open as Kyle rushed in, with Foss following close behind. The family jumped, Lori uttering a small scream, and then went to him with worry.

"Kyle we thought you were in trouble." Nicole said and they hugged each other.

"I thought the same about you. Cassidy was at the house, he said he sent you a text from my phone to meet me here." Kyle said.

"Well… looks like were useless yet again." Josh said with disappointment, Kyle clapped him on the back.

"You're never useless, any of you. You're my family, and if I didn't have you I wouldn't be the same person." Kyle said to them all seriously.

"Kyle, let's get back to the house. If Latnok thought ahead, there may be men on the way." Foss said, looking around.

They drove home, and exited the car cautiously as the lights in the house were now on. Kyle went in first, followed by Foss, and found Jessi in a fighting stance on the other side of the door.

"Kyle!" she cried and hugged him as he walked in.

"Jessi, what happened to you?" Kyle asked worriedly.

Jessi pulled back, looked at him confusedly and said, "Nothing. Amanda came by, to tell you that Nate had gone out and it was a good time to destroy the records. I sent her in your place, but she got caught…" Kyle's breath hitched. "…so I went and helped her. When I got back, the house was a mess and there was no one here."

"Thank you Jessi, for helping Amanda." Kyle said genuinely.

Jessi looked away in what looked like hurt and then said solemnly, "She's in your room, she wants to talk to you."

Foss came from the dining room disappointedly shaking his head and looked Kyle in the eyes.

"Cassidy is gone, and so are the others from Latnok." He said with a frown.

"Okay, Josh and Lori go upstairs and go to bed. Kyle and Jessi, go to your rooms and do the same. Foss, I want to talk to you for a minute." Stephen said.

"But…" all four chanted in different tones.

Nicole silenced them with a look, and they dispersed. Foss sat down in a chair while Nicole and Stephen took the couch.

"What do you think?" Stephen asked.

"I'm sorry…?" Foss asked, spreading his hands confusedly.

"What do we do? We can't live knowing any of our children could be kidnapped, Amanda and Declan too. How big of a threat is Latnok?" Nicole asked.

Foss sighed and leaned forward, pausing to collect his thoughts, and then looked at the worried parents across from him.

"They're not afraid to get their hands dirty, and that was always Zzyzx and Madacorp's greatest weakness, not to mention their public image. They won't hesitate to take drastic steps to ensure Kyle is on their side." Foss said straightforwardly.

"So what do you suggest?" Stephen asked, as if he already knew the answer.

Foss stared them down for a moment before saying, "Leave. Pack up tonight and get out of Washington. Get Kyle, Jessi, and anyone else in danger and run."

"Are you really suggesting we…" Nicole began but was cut off by Foss standing.

"That's the only way to be sure. If you have a better idea, by all means… I'm going to talk to Kyle and then I'm leaving. You two have a lot to discuss." He said, and walked out of the room.

The parents looked at each other with worry, and then began to talk.

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Kyle opened his door, and there she was. Her long blonde hair draped over the arms in which she had rested her head. She was breathing softly in her sleep, a large stack of papers beside her. Kyle smiled softly and walked to her, touching her shoulder lightly and she quivered under his touch but didn't wake up.

_I looked at Amanda with nothing but love filling my heart. She had been so brave, and so faithful even when she had no reason to. She could have been hurt, trying to get something for me she didn't even understand the value of. _

As a cough sounded Kyle turned around, Foss stood in his doorway looking at him. They left the room and walked outside, blocking out Stephen and Nicole's conversation. They walked across the street to an old, but familiar, truck.

"Kyle. Latnok wants you, and that means you're either going to join them or you're going to disappear. The choice is yours." Foss said, climbing in his truck.

"Is that what you're doing, running away?" Kyle asked.

"Kyle, I have devoted the past twelve years to you, to Adam… and to ensuring that _you_ had a choice. Here it is, now it's yours to make." Foss said, starting the truck.

"I'll fight. I'm not going to let Latnok choose how I live, and I won't let them play God. You forgot that option." Kyle said, sternly.

"There's nothing to fight, Kyle. It's over. They'll hurt them, Kyle, your family. Amanda. Declan. Anyone that is important to you, they will hurt. You can't stop them, Kyle, you don't understand these people. They will _kill_ to ensure they get what they want. It's over." He said, looking down.

"It's only over if I say it is. I'm staying here, but you don't have to. Go, Foss, you deserve a life… just like I do." Kyle said.

Foss nodded and drove away, leaving Kyle in the street with only his thoughts.

_Adam had always been a selfless man, and I had tried my hardest to be as well. But I couldn't let myself run away. Too much had already been lost for me to give up and flee._

Kyle crossed the street, back to his home.

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"Kyle?" Amanda's voice said, distant but strong.

Kyle opened his eyes, Amanda was standing next to him and he was asleep in his tub, still wearing the same outfit he had worn to Latnok's warehouse.

"Amanda!" he said surprised.

"I was hoping you'd wake up before I went home… Jessi and I got this from Nate, and we wiped his drive. Your secrets are safe for now." She smiled warmly.

"Amanda… I want to tell you everything. Last night just proves that I'm not keeping you safe just by keeping you in the dark." Kyle said, standing and exiting his tub.

"Kyle, not now. I have something to tell you too, but we should wait until later today." Amanda said as she walked out, leaving Kyle confused.

How long had she wondered about him, and now she was willing to wait to know the answers? Kyle looked down at his tub with curiosity as Jessi poked her head around the door and knocked.

"Yes?" Kyle asked, looking up.

She walked in slowly, but she was obviously hiding excitement. Kyle couldn't help but smile a little as she did.

"So, how did it go? Did you administer the bacteria?" Jessi asked, a smile on her face.

"Yes, and ran into Cassidy as well. Jessi, he told me something that I still am having trouble believing even though he was telling the truth." Kyle said, looking away.

"What did he say?" Jessi asked concerned and walked over to him.

He sat in a chair and Jessi leaned on the desk, still looking at him.

"He said he is my… brother." Kyle said, wincing as he said it.

Jessi recoiled slightly and blinked, then put her head down in deep thought.

"He said that my mother is named Grace, and that she's his mother too." Kyle said, finally looking up at her.

"Grace Kingsley." Jessi said, staring out the window and narrowing her eyes.

"How do you know about her?" Kyle asked, standing sharply.

"Kyle calm down… I read through some of the files on Nate's computer, it said that she was the donor of your egg." Jessi explained.

"I just never thought about it like that…" Kyle said, sitting down again.

"What I don't get… is if Adam and Sarah loved each other, then why…?" Jessi asked.

"I don't know. It never really occurred to me how little we actually know about our creation, and the two best people to question are gone." Kyle said, moping.

"We could ask Grace." Jessi pointed out, but Kyle just stared at her, shocked.

"She's part of Latnok, and I think it's clear that we need to stay far, far away from them." Kyle said sternly.

Jessi took a step back, parting her lips slightly in concern.

"Kyle, Latnok didn't do anything… just Cassidy." She reminded him.

"We have to assume he's on orders from Latnok, we can't deal with them again. Jessi, promise me that you will stay away from them." Kyle said urgently.

"Kyle I just think…"

"Promise me Jessi." He grabbed her hands and looked deep into her eyes.

Jessi struggled to keep her composure as his gaze smoldered straight to her heart, her skin blazed as his sight tore through her body and soul. She found herself lost in his eyes while trying to form a reasonable response. Kyle leaned closer, also distracted by how beautiful _her_ eyes were, and parted his lips. Jessi looked down, saw his lips slightly trembling with excitement, and felt a chill travel up her neck. She pulled back suddenly, breaking the moment and looking away.

"Kyle, we can't…" she said, looking frightfully at the ground.

"Jessi, I…" Kyle began but Jessi just looked into his eyes.

"Please Kyle… don't hurt me. You love Amanda, and we both know it." She pleaded.

Kyle stepped back in shock. He loved Amanda, but he had just realized that he loved Jessi too. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to make her feel safe, secure, and loved. Most of all, he wanted her to be _happy. _Jessi walked past him and out of his room, leaving him with his troubling thoughts.

_My concern for those that I loved had always been my greatest vulnerability, and now that list had grown. The day was sure to bring with it many answers, but the previous night had left me with so many questions. How had I come into being, and what was the story behind Grace Kingsley? Did she have some part to play in Latnok? How long would it take for the organization to rise again? _

_But perhaps the most important question, who did I love more? Amanda, the girl I had loved since I first saw her, or Jessi, the one that was my equal, who needed no protection, and who I was just starting to realize was perfect for me? I realized that before the day was over, I would be forced to decide._

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The room was darkened, shadows flickered in a corner but the steel table, in a circle of light, in the middle was all Michael Cassidy could see as he regained consciousness. He was handcuffed, and his legs were shackled to the chair he sat upon. His head had a stream of dried blood where he was struck with the end of a handgun for waking up prematurely. A man sat across from him, cloaked with shadow but for his general figure. He wore black gloves, which were clearly visible on the table as were the documents beneath them.

"What are those?" he said, wincing with pain.

"Papers, for you to start your new life. You have failed miserably and have disappointed Ms. Kingsley, but as you are technically her son she has decided _against_ killing you." A deep voice said, sliding the papers towards him.

"No, I can do it… I won't fail Latnok!" Cassidy said loudly.

"You are NOT a part of Latnok, you're a stooge. A disappointment that Ms. Kingsley attempted to correct long ago, and she did. Your brother will soon take your former chair, and then become a true member of Latnok. That should be enough for you." He said and stood, proceeding to unlock Cassidy's bindings.

"No… NO! I demand to see her! Mother! MOTHER!" Cassidy yelled, but was knocked unconscious yet again.

The man pulled him out of the chair and opened a door, revealing light that showed his silhouette as well as a woman's.

"He was such a disappointment, going after my son alone." A woman's voice said sadly.

"At least now we know where he is. Kyle will not be able to reject us for long, to reject _you _for long, ma'am." The man's voice said as he dragged Cassidy away.

"Of course not… every boy needs his mother."

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Kyle XY Season Four preview:

-Love: "You have to choose, Kyle!" Amanda said, her eyes watering.

-Mystery: "So, you want to know more about your creation? I can tell you…" Brian smirked from behind his desk.

-Danger: "You always were the favorite son." Cassidy said, his forehead dripping sweat.

-Loss: "Please… you _have _to wake up!" Jessi said, tears falling onto his cold hand.

-Change: "There's a part of me that I don't like… a dark part, when I lose control." Kyle admitted with fear.

Kyle XY, Season Four. Every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST.


	2. Episode Two: The Hard Path

Four

A Kyle XY FanFiction

By: AMysteriousAuthor

**Underlined italics represent Kyle's narration. **

**Bold italics represent Jessi's narration.**

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**I am in no official way associated with Kyle XY. **

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Episode Two: The Hard Path

_Every morning begins with a similar routine. One wakes up, and wonders how their day will be. The morning after Cassidy vanished was no exception. As I walked out of my room, I wondered what the day would hold for me. As I entered the kitchen and saw my family deep in conversation, I knew that today would be long and difficult._

"Kyle, how did you sleep?" Nicole asked as Kyle helped himself to an apple.

"Very deeply… last night was rough." Kyle said honestly.

"Well, it's not every day you take down a shady, vindictive organization." Stephen said with a smile.

"It seems to be happening much more frequently." Kyle said, also smiling.

The three laughed as Josh walked in, wearing his pajamas still and blinking constantly.

"Pajamas? It's almost 8:00." Stephen said skeptically.

"Yeah, but it's also summer vacation so I think my presence being _known_ this early is cause for excitement." Josh said tiredly and Kyle smiled.

Lori came shuffling in wearing her large, fluffy bathrobe with her teeth chattering.

"Why is it so cold in here?" she asked.

All five looked at the patio door which was still a shattered and splintered hole to the yard.

"Oh yeah." Lori said, rolling her eyes.

"Jessi and I can fix it by tonight, I'll ask her when she comes in." Kyle said optimistically.

"Where is Jessi? Isn't she awake yet?" Stephen asked, looking at the hallway.

"She took off about ten minutes ago, said not to worry and that she would call." Nicole said, taking a sip of tea.

"Oh." Kyle said sadly, looking down.

"Kyle, don't start wearing your Amanda face when you're thinking about Jessi, it's creepy." Lori said, walking out.

"Where are you headed today?" Stephen called after her.

Lori stopped and spun around, "Well, _actually_, I was going to meet Mark and…" Lori began but was cut off by Kyle and Stephen both saying, "NO!"

Nicole looked at them with concern as Lori raised an eyebrow.

"I mean I was _not_ going to meet Mark, but rather spend the day in silent solitude." Lori said and proceeded up the stairs.

"Kyle, what was that about?" Nicole asked, eyebrow slightly raised.

Kyle sighed and looked at them seriously, "I just think we should _all_ try to keep as much distance between this family and Latnok as possible."

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Jessi walked down the stairs in U-Dub's Science building, into the Latnok common room. Only Mark was there, looking as though he had just woken up. Jessi walked over to him, smiling warmly and he attempted a wave tiredly.

"Hey Mark, how are things at Latnok today?" she asked.

"It's not _today_ that's exciting, it was last night." He said with a yawn, missing Jessi's breath hitch.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Nate's room got busted in… they stole his stuff and fried his computer. It was a huge scandal, I only had just got back when I saw all the cop cars." He said, helping himself to another drink of coffee while opening his laptop.

"Did he see who did it?" Jessi asked.

"I think he might have, but he told the cops he didn't… why so interested?" Mark asked, sharp even in his tired state.

"Fellow member… maybe I could exact some revenge." Jessi said, dramatically cracking her knuckles.

"I don't think you would be much help." Nathan said from behind her, setting his backpack down.

Jessi spun around a little too quickly, but Nate didn't react other than smile slightly while pulling out a laptop that looked just like his old one.

"A new laptop already?" Mark asked interestedly.

"Nah… I just put in one of my extra hard drives… but it doesn't have any of my project info so that's all lost." He said aggravated.

"Well, maybe you should learn to lock your door." Mark laughed.

"Maybe you should learn to mind your own business." Nate said shortly, sitting down and glaring at him.

Jessi suppressed a laugh as she saw Nate's face was bruised and swollen where Amanda's elbow had connected. Nate noticed and frowned at her.

"You think something's funny about my face, Jessi?" He asked menacingly.

"Only that you would show it." Jessi responded, steel in her voice.

The two stared each other down as Mark looked on in concern, until Nate looked away with a sigh.

"I'm just going to wait for Cassidy over on the couches." He said, standing.

"Why are you waiting for Cassidy?" Jessi asked, bewildered.

"Well, Jessi, in case you didn't know, unlikely, my room was broken into last night and all my research dumped. That means I have to let Cassidy know, so he can get people on it." Nate said with a smile.

"What do you mean, 'get people on it'?" Jessi asked, standing as well.

"Latnok has resources, and some of the projects I was working on were… _delicate, _to the organization. They'll want to recover them." He laughed and walked away.

Jessi's eyes grew wide with concern as Mark laughed softly behind her. She spun around viciously and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Calm down, Jessi, sheesh… it's just that even though I don't like him, Nate is absolutely right. I would hate to be the ones who broke into his room. If _my_ laptop was taken, for instance, we'd have no choice but to recover it. Latnok is highly secretive of our projects." Mark said, almost as though he was sharing a secret that Jessi didn't understand.

Jessi walked up the stairs and, as soon as she was out of Mark's line of sight, began to run. As she wasn't paying attention, she ran full speed into a man in a grey suit, throwing him to the ground in a cry of pain.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't watching…" Jessi began but stopped when she saw who it was.

"Wow, Jessi, you really have been slacking on your training." Brian Taylor said, standing without his daughter's help.

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_I had allowed myself to lose control, and had caused severe damage to the house because of it. If Foss had not appeared when he did, I may have damaged more than just the house. As I repaired the wall, thoughts of what could have happened raced through my head. As I devoted more thought to the previous nights' event, my focus and ferocity increased. I was not sure why the revelation of Cassidy being my brother had made me feel this way, but that just made it worse._

Kyle was working manically, repairing at a speed that only one other in the world might have been able to match. Had anyone seen him, they would have thought they were watching a movie on fast forward. He nevertheless moved with incredible accuracy and purpose, repairing the door to the side as the other damage he set as much as he could with the supplies at his disposal. He realized early that he wanted it to be the exact same as it had been before, so as not to leave behind a landmark of the event.

"Kyle?" someone asked behind him.

He spun around, holding a large, wooden support in his hand and raising it as a weapon. Amanda gasped and stepped back, but he was already lowering the board.

"Amanda!" he said with surprise.

"I'm sorry if I snuck up on you or something." She said with concern, approaching him cautiously.

"No, it was my fault for not paying attention… are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah… it's almost 1:00, so I thought we could talk?" Amanda asked, trailing as though it was a bad idea.

"We need to… but I have to repair the damage I caused first." Kyle said, frowning and gesturing to the hole behind him.

"Right, of course… so, maybe at the park? Around 5:00?" she asked timidly.

Kyle estimated the work he still had left, and weighed it against his speed.

"Maybe 6:00 would be a better time." He said apologetically.

"Oh… okay. I'll see you then, Kyle, bye." Amanda said with a smile and a wave.

"Bye… Amanda." Kyle said sadly, and turned to continue his work.

_I was glad that Amanda had not picked up on the strange new feelings that I was experiencing. I had been angry, or what I thought was angry, in the past but this was different. As I held Cassidy against the door frame, my mind had raced with things I could have done to him. As Jessi had shown him before, I was capable of overloading his nerves with pain… and I had wanted to. The worst part was, even as I thought about it, I realized that I still wanted to._

Kyle was gritting his teeth as he thought, and his work slowed down to a near halt. Suddenly, Kyle let out a loud and frustrated shout, and slammed his fist down into the ground. The earth beneath him shattered into a spider-web of cracks that spread around in a four foot radius. Kyle stood, eyes widening as he looked at the damage he had caused with minimal effort. Suddenly, his mind placed Cassidy beneath him, torn and shattered by the blow, with his blood running off of Kyle's knuckles.

"NOO!" Kyle cried and fell to his knees, clutching his head.

"Kyle!" Nicole exclaimed as she ran to the hole in alarm.

"Stay back!" Kyle said loudly, anger interspersed with worry.

As he threw his hand out, his mind sent a shockwave of force towards Nicole, who stood in the doorway shocked. Time slowed down as Kyle saw the mental push he had sent through the distance slowly reach Nicole and, just before impact, slam down to the ground, shattering the patio in front of her. Nicole's hand went to her mouth as she realized that only Kyle could have done something like that, and Kyle's eyes widened as he realized what he had almost done.

Nicole began to shake her head as she judged Kyle's reaction, but he had already stood. His eyes were wide, and glossy with tears.

"I'm sorry… I can't..." he whispered, and took off around the house.

Nicole's lip began to tremble as the adrenaline rushed through her and Stephen came running in from the other room.

"What happened?" he yelled, grabbing Nicole's shoulders.

"Kyle…" was all she could say, as she began to cry.

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Brian stood, very calmly brushing the wrinkles out of his jacket. He collected the briefcase he had been holding and smiled at Jessi.

"You don't look happy to see me." He said with a gesture.

"Why are you here? Tom told you never to come back." Jessi said, gritting her teeth.

"Well, first of all I think you owe me a little more credit… I have never been, and still am not, intimidated by Adam's muscleman. I left only because _you_ didn't want me here… but now you've started all this trouble and I have to come do damage control." Brian smiled.

"What trouble?" Jessi asked, poorly feigning ignorance.

"Oh please Jessi, breaking into a student member of Latnok's room and stealing some of the _most_ valuable information Latnok possesses… not to mention assaulting Michael Cassidy, the head of student affairs here." Brian said with a smile.

"Why is that funny to you?" Jessi asked, eyebrow raised.

"Well, the council saw how unfit of a mentor he truly was, using the resources for personal gain, and decided to evict him. So I'm his replacement." He said with a smile and a shrug.

Jessi just frowned, trying to wrap her head around this staggering development.

"Things are about to start happening, Jessi, it's already started. Latnok is publically as united as it could possibly be, but privately Grace Kingsley is planning to come after Kyle. She wants him on the council with her, to take control of it, and begin a new monopoly on science." Brian said seriously, looking Jessi square in the eye.

"What are you talking about?" Jessi asked incredulously.

"The prom was just the beginning, soon Latnok _will_ come for Kyle… and unless we're united, they'll get him Jess." Brian said softly.

"I'm not going to 'unite' with anybody, I just want this to be over." Jessi said, consciously keeping her lower lip from trembling.

"Cassidy made a grave mistake when he openly threatened Kyle, and now Kyle will have to deal with rage. You and I know what that's like, Jessi, but he's never felt it before and it's going to make him very confused. He'll need you, now, more than ever." Brian said, touched her shoulder, and walked past her.

"Wait, how do you know all of this?" Jessi asked.

Brian turned around smirking and said, "Jessi, it's my _purpose_ to know everything, about everyone."

Jessi blinked in response as her father walked down the stairs and out of her sight. She looked around, and ducked into a janitor's closet and then began to concentrate as much as she could. She put everything out of her mind except for Kyle, and finally her mind touched what felt like a wall of spinning wire. She recoiled and began to mentally shout.

_**KYLE!**_

Her concentration faltered with his response, as it came distant and guarded.

_Leave me alone Jessi._

_**No, I won't. What happened?**_

Flashes of him choking Cassidy, his anger, his fury as he punched the ground, and his final, uncontrolled mental push towards Nicole.

_**AHHH!**_

Jessi cried as Kyle struck out with a mental spike that rendered her incapable of keeping up the connection. As her consciousness came back to her body, she saw that both her nostrils were bleeding. She touched the blood and, as she saw it, a piercing headache struck behind her right eye. She cried out and held it with her hand, realizing she was curled up on the floor.

"Kyle…" she said softly, and passed out.

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Stephen sat on the couch, rubbing his wife's back. Lori sat across from them next to Josh on chairs, in between them lay Jessi, her nose continuing to bleed out. Brian Taylor walked in, he had a batch of fresh cloths for his daughter, and blood across his white shirt.

"How long do you think…" Stephen began.

"There's no telling. She could stay like this for a few more minutes, or a couple of days… maybe even forever. Kyle had up mental barriers, something Adam taught him, and Jessi wasn't expecting an attack. She was caught completely by surprise." Brian said, placing the cloth to her nose.

"I just can't believe _Kyle_ did this, It's so… un-Kyle." Lori said.

"Lori, he knocked a guy through the wall, choked him, wrecked the yard, and almost blew mom up. I think this is pretty tame." Josh said harshly.

"Josh…" Nicole said, speaking for nearly the first time since that afternoon.

"What? Don't stick up for him, he's been getting worse ever since prom, and you all know it!" Josh said loudly.

"Josh… Kyle hasn't had to _deal_ with legitimate anger before, everyone lashes out eventually." Stephen said, looking down at Jessi sadly.

"Yeah? Well I don't think Superman ever 'lashed out' at his own mother!" Josh exclaimed.

"This is a horrible situation… if Latnok finds him in his troubled state, it's over." Brian gritted his teeth.

"Let me guess, you wanted Jessi to find him and make it all better, huh?" Lori said, earning an angered look from her parents.

"Yes… that _is_ what I wanted. Unless you think _you_ could withstand Kyle's, excuse my term robbery, 'lashing out'." Brian said, looking at her.

Jessi coughed and opened her eyes, blinking rapidly and trying to sit up.

"Wait a second Jessi, you need to rest." Stephen said, pushing her lightly back down.

"Yeah, apparently Kyle psychically one-shotted your brain." Josh said.

"Kyle… Kyle!" Jessi exclaimed and sat up swiftly.

"Jessi, lay back down… you're going to put unnecessary strain on your mind." Brian warned sternly.

Jessi looked at him, and then around her at the Tragers, and laid back down.

"What happened?" she asked Nicole.

Nicole opened her mouth, but when nothing came out Stephen said, "You tried to find Kyle, with your mind, and he… well he knocked you out. Taylor heard you cry out, recovered you, and brought you back here. You've been unconscious for about seven hours."

Jessi touched her head where Kyle had hit her with the mental spike and closed her eyes. Lori and josh looked down at her sadly, but jumped when she stood up abruptly.

"Jessi, where are you going?" Nicole asked very concerned.

Jessi turned to her with shining eyes.

"Kyle is out there, and he needs me. If he's left alone, he'll go crazy like I almost did." Jessi said.

"I'm coming with you." Nicole said, standing and grabbing her jacket.

"No! Nicole, you saw what he did earlier… and what he did to me. Anyone else would just be another reason for him to hide." Jessi said seriously, and started towards the door.

"Jessi wait! What if…" Lori trailed off worriedly.

Jessi stopped, and turned to the concerned faces that filled the room.

"I'll come back, and Kyle will be with me. I think you should all think about what's going to happen when he does." Jessi said, and walked out the door.

Silence filled the room as everyone thought about how they felt about Kyle, and what would happen if Jessi did manage to bring him back.

"Well, I'll leave the family together, thank you for the continued support you're giving to Jessi… You'll understand if I want to keep her living situation the way it is." Brian said with a smile and grabbed his jacket.

"Taylor wait… what if they don't come back?" Stephen asked, with only parental worry in his voice.

Brian stopped and then turned to face them slowly.

"I'm sure they'll be back, Mr. Trager… you raised Kyle much better than I raised Jessi, and she knows they'll be back. Therefore, Kyle does too, you all have a good night." He smiled and exited the house.

Nicole stood, walked to the closet, and pulled out a large blanket. She then set up the blanket on the couch, and moved it so it faced the door.

"Nicole what are you doing?" Stephen asked worriedly.

"I'm waiting for our son, your brother." She said, looking from Stephen to Josh and Lori.

The three paused, and then sat down next to her.

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_**Most days begin with a similar routine. One wakes up and wonders how their day will be. This morning I had expected nothing less than drama as I attempted to recon Nate's reaction to Amanda's and my break-in, but nothing could have prepared me for Kyle's reaction to the night. As I entered the tree line at full speed, I wondered how much I could do for him. I hoped that I would be enough to make him see what an extraordinary person he was, and convince him to forgive himself.**_

_**I sped up.**_

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**(Author's Note hint: Backwards.)**

Kyle XY, Season Four. Every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST.


	3. Episode Three: Return, My Son

Four

A Kyle XY FanFiction

By: AMysteriousAuthor

**Underlined italics represent Kyle's narration. **

**Bold italics represent Jessi's narration.**

**1/13: 8-5-12-12-14/1-7-1-9-13/13-24/6-17-9-5-13-4-18/19-8-9-18/18-8-14-20-12-4/2-5/19-8-5/12-1-18-19/3-14-4-5-4/13-5-18-18-1-7-5/. 9/1-15-14-10-14-7-9-25-5/6-14-17/1-12-12/19-8-5/18-5-3-17-5-3-24/, 9-19/9-18/13-5-3-5-18-18-1-17-24/20-13-19-9-12/9/18-5-19/20-15/1-13/5-13-15. 8-1-15-15-24/19-8-1-13-11-18-7-9-21-9-13-7!**

**I am in no official way associated with Kyle XY. **

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Episode Three: Return, My Son

_**We all have questions. No one is content with their current knowledge, there is always a desire to know more. Sometimes, questions can be so important, they affect the way you see yourself depending on the answer. Such questions should be answered as quickly as the information is found, because to delay the answers can be dangerous.**_

Jessi ran through the night, as fast as she thought she could handle for the sustained rate of time. As the sun was rising, she slowed and eventually stopped around the place Kyle had first woken up. She closed her eyes and concentrated, attempting to locate him again, but all she got was a misty haze that surrounded her, no doubt a product of Kyle's mind so he didn't hurt her again. She groaned and began to jog in the direction of the diner that Adam and Sarah had frequented.

_**I had no better idea than to keep in constant motion. By my reckoning I was faster than Kyle and I had more stamina, so eventually I would catch him assuming I knew where to go. As this thought crossed my mind, more followed: What if I couldn't find Kyle? I thought about all the things he had helped with in his life, and what could happen if he never returned. What would become of everyone, knowing that Kyle had broken? Kyle, who had always been so kind and helpful, who had saved me from myself even once I had betrayed him… suddenly an idea struck me. No matter what he was feeling, Kyle had always been selfless. He had always put those he loved above everything, and maybe I could use that to find him.**_

As this idea occurred to her, Jessi summoned up a vivid imagery of running through the forest, getting tangled in the roots of a tree, and breaking her leg. She sent out the best mental scream of pain she could through the forest and then sat on the ground, waiting for Kyle.

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Kyle skidded to a halt as a mental scream pierced his mind. It was Jessi, and she was seriously injured. Kyle had been running since he left the house the day before, but had made a large circle so he was only approximately forty miles from her location. His stood in indecision and fear for Jessi's safety and his own inability to control the rage that had built up in his heart.

"If Jessi needs me, then I have to help her." He whispered to himself.

_But won't my presence be more dangerous than her solitude?_

"No… because her leg may be broken, and she can't move."

_Jessi is much stronger than I am, and she could probably heal herself in under an hour._

"Plus, what if there are others with her? I would be doing the exact opposite of what I had hoped to gain by leaving."

_I ran away in fear, not nobility. Fear of my own anger, which I can't control._

"And every moment that I stand here, arguing with myself, she could be losing blood."

_And there's nothing saying I couldn't leave after helping her._

Kyle nodded to himself, his decision made. He ran in the direction of the mental scream, and he ran fast.

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Jessi felt him approaching from almost five miles, and began to send out faint cries of fake pain. As she predicted, he sped up with every cry, and was there in less than twenty minutes. He turned the corner and saw her, sitting on the roots completely fine, and his face turned to confusion.

"Don't be angry… I didn't know how else to find you." Jessi said apologetically.

"You… you sent that out just so I would come here?" Kyle asked in exasperated confusion.

"Yes… Kyle, please, you have to listen to me." Jessi pleaded, but threw up mental guards as she saw Kyle's eyes gleam.

"No. I've done enough listening… _you_ listen. I'm not the same person I used to be I'm… bad." Kyle said, and looked away.

"I was convinced of that once, Kyle, and you helped me realize the truth!" Jessi exclaimed, taking a step towards him.

"What truth, Jessi? You want to hear the _truth_? I almost killed Nicole, and I almost killed _you_! _That's _the only truth that matters anymore!" Kyle yelled, looking at her again.

"I've killed someone, Kyle, and I never felt the guilt or remorse that you feel over what you did. If anything, that proves what a _good_ person you are!" Jessi exclaimed, and Kyle held up his hand to silence her.

"I'm done. Don't follow me." He warned, and turned around.

As he began to run, Jessi's eyes widened. Before she thought it through, Jessi mentally tripped him and made him sprawl into the dirt. Almost immediately he was on his feet, his eyes darkened with anger. He gritted his teeth and threw out his hand, sending the same devastating force that had almost hit Nicole at Jessi. Prepared for his retaliation, Jessi leapt out of the way of the shockwave and landed in a crouch.

"Kyle, stop it!" she yelled.

Kyle responded by closing his eyes, his eyebrows narrowed with fury. Jessi prepared her mind and, as soon as she had, a mental spike with three times the power of the one the day before cut deeply into her brain. She let out a cry and fell to the ground, then summoned back up her defenses. Quickly, multiple weaker spikes slammed her simultaneously, weakening her defenses as a larger spike prepared its assault. Jessi could not summon up a mental spike, she had no clue as to how Kyle knew how to do it. Knowing she couldn't retaliate with force, Jessi instead summoned up all the beautiful memories she had of Kyle, and mentally threw them at him.

She felt Kyle's mind waver as all of the greatest memories Jessi had of him connected. She felt his kindness return as he saw their most beautiful moments from her eyes. Suddenly, the prepared spike launched, and knocked Jessi physically five feet away as she felt her mind shatter.

"JESSI!" Kyle cried and ran over to her.

He skidded to her on his knees and picked her up on his chest. The bottom of her face was covered with blood from her nose, and it traveled down her neck. She was still conscious, but looked at Kyle as though from a distance. He realized he was crying as she smiled.

"Kyle… you're back." She said with a grin.

"Jessi, please stay with me." Kyle cried, brushing her long black hair out of her face.

Jessi closed her eyes, a smile still on her face, and passed out. Kyle felt her pulse, it was there, but there was no higher brain function. He had fried her neural circuits, and now only her basic functions were intact. Kyle closed his eyes, let out a tear, and placed his hand to her head. He concentrated, and soon became unconscious as well.

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Michael stood before the other three men, all in identical black suits with white seams. Their faces were covered by shadow, and they all spoke through the same voice changer. He stood fidgeting as they took their measure of him, and then a chair mechanically rolled up to him.

"Sit, Mr. Cassidy." one said, gesturing with his gloved hand.

Michael sat down timidly, looking at them with unguarded fear and awe.

"We have considered your proposal to acquire the final products of Zzyzx, but before we announce our decision, we have a few questions if you don't mind." Another said, only his hand gestures indicating which it was.

"Of course…" he responded, stuttering.

"Should the worst happen and re-integration proves impossible, which do you believe to be less viable as an asset, 7 or 8?" one asked, without a hand gesture.

"7. 8 is fully accepting of all policies when in suspended mode." Cassidy said, his fear lessening.

"I say again, should re-integration prove _impossible_, which is less viable as an asset?" the middle said with a twitch.

"Outside of suspended mode, 7 is much easier to control. 8 is resistant and defiant, there can be no control over her…"

"_It."_ The far left man interrupted.

"Yes, of course… there can be no control over its behavior. While with 7, all you must do is have leverage involving his family." Cassidy said.

"_It_ does not have a family, Michael. It is an asset, nothing more." The far left man reiterated.

"Of course… I meant the Trager family." Cassidy said.

"Your meaning was clear. Now, about your idea on how to obtain the specimens, you stated in your proposal that force is the best option, did you not?"

"Yes, without it we can't acquire them at the same time without alerting someone." Cassidy said, his forehead perspiring.

"Indeed, but did you not also say that 7 is exceedingly strong, and that 8 can manipulate blood in such a way as to render a man unconscious from agony?"

"Yes, but these abilities are only effective against one opponent; the more the opposition, the less likely they are to escape." Cassidy said, struggling to keep his composure.

"We will help you, Michael Cassidy, and the assets of Zzyzx will serve our mutual purpose quite well. Stay in hiding, we will notify you when we will proceed… after all, Latnok does not expect you to still be in Seattle, particularly your mother." One said, gesturing to the door.

Cassidy nodded, smiling, and bowed his head as he stepped out the door.

"Thank you, sirs, thank you very much." He said, smiling as he exited the modified hotel room.

The three chairs staggered, and then turned in so all the men were still facing each other, numbers appearing on their chairs.

"He truly believes we do not suspect treachery." One said.

"Perhaps even he does not know that he will want to save her yet, One." Three said.

"She's his mother, of course he'll want to protect her… but if we are to make our presence known to Latnok then we must be sure to bring it down simultaneously." Two said.

"And Baylin's abominations? Will they truly serve a purpose, even _if_ re-integration is possible?" One asked.

"Baylin had his chance to play his game with Latnok… he lost. Now his weapons are out on the board with no player, and they must be eradicated in any way possible. If we can use them to our advantage, then we shall. However, should they prove disobedient, we will put them down." Two said decisively.

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Cassidy stood in his room, three floors down from where the meeting had just taken place. He was still sweating and his guest sneered.

"That's nasty, were they really that scary?" Nate asked, sitting in one of the chairs.

"You have no idea what they are capable of. You thought Latnok has resources?" Cassidy shook his head and sat down across from him.

"So, what did they say? They gonna help us get the material back from Kyle and Jessi?" he asked.

"Yes… but we have to be ready. We need Mark on it, stupid of them not to take his notes on the project as well… and we'll also need Brian Taylor, luckily for us Latnok brought him out of hiding and practically handed him to us on a silver platter." Cassidy said.

"Why him? He's just a goofy guy that introduced himself to us, and then took off just as fast." Nate said confusedly.

"Not him necessarily, but he knows the location of someone we need." Cassidy said.

"Oh yeah? Who's that?" Nate asked skeptically.

"Dr. D.E." Cassidy said, standing and going to the phone.

"Who's that supposed to be?" Nate asked, eyebrow raised.

"The man who… haha, 'delivered' Kyle and Jessi, and was their doctor most of their early lives." Cassidy said.

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Kyle woke up in Jessi's old apartment room. It was furnished just as it had been the night that Sarah had been killed by Cassidy. Jessi sat on her bed, wearing the same outfit she had worn the night after the party and a smile.

"Hey Kyle, glad to see you're back." She laughed softly and patted the bed next to her.

Kyle timidly sat down, blinking rapidly.

"Jessi… what is this?" he asked, looking around.

"This is my failsafe. It's something Brian taught me, after we spoke about Madacorp's C.I.R. chair." She said, grinning wider.

"This… is in your mind?" Kyle asked, looking around.

"This _is_ my mind, thanks to your spike." She smiled, nudging him.

"Jessi I'm so…"

"Don't say it. If I wasn't ready to sacrifice it, I wouldn't have come after you." She said, looking at the door.

"So… you made a backup of your mind?" he asked, struggling with his emotions.

"Not exactly… the more I pushed my mind, the more memories I could fit in here, but some things aren't here… I just don't remember what they are." She laughed and stood.

She took his hand and led him out the door, into the hallway with more doors than it had before. She took him to the first one and opened it. Inside was an expanded floor of Jessi and himself, all the times they had ever spoken, or touched, or been near each other. It was very large.

"Jessi…" he said, stunned.

"This is _our_ room, I don't think anything isn't here… but I could be wrong. You were the first room I made." She said, smiling again.

"This is… incredible." He said softly.

"Come on, this is my next favorite up here." She said with a laugh and led him to another door.

This room was filled with her memories of Sarah and Brian, with some of Lori and Nicole as well.

"My family, see? It's smaller than our room, because I spend more time with you than anyone else. The best part about this is I was able to fit all of my memories of them in here." She said happily.

"Is that Amanda?" he asked, gesturing to a part where Amanda elbowed Nate in the face repeatedly.

"Oh yeah, I put that in here immediately… I thought it was cool." She said, still perpetually happy.

They closed the door and Kyle looked at the door that would have Cassidy's in real life. It was solid black.

"What's in there?" Kyle asked.

"Oh, you don't want to see that room." She said, her smile turning mischievous.

"What's in there? Yes I want to see." He said and started to open it, but it was locked.

"Kyle, this is _my_ mind. Only I get to open the doors." She said strangely, still smiling.

He just stared at her until she rolled her eyes and opened the door. Below them a Jessi was strangling a man over and over, a Jessi was boiling Cassidy's blood, Sarah's heartbeat echoed through the room, a Jessi picked Nate up by his neck, and a Jessi repeatedly slammed the side of Lori's face with her fist. Kyle looked at the real Jessi with concern, but her smile hadn't faltered.

"If you only remember the good things, you're blinding yourself." She explained and closed the door.

"Jessi… why are you so happy?" he asked, giving voice to his confusion.

Finally, her smile faltered, she looked down, and then at his eyes.

"Because, Kyle, you're finally you again." She said seriously.

Kyle felt his heart smolder again, like it had the previous morning when they were alone in his room. He stared into her eyes, and she into his. Their heartbeats increased at the same time, with the same urgency, as their hands connected between them. Kyle slowly leaned forward as Jessi did the same, tilting their heads in opposite directions. As their lips grew close, the lights went out and the hallway shuddered. They both looked around in concern, and then Jessi laughed aloud.

"What's happening, Jessi?" Kyle asked loudly so she could hear him.

"My system is rebooting!" she said with equal volume as everything went black.

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Kyle opened his eyes. Jessi was still asleep in his arms, and both of their noses were bleeding. He felt a jolt of fear, but then calmed as her eyes fluttered open and she looked around. He smiled, as did she, and then he began to tear up as she radiated happiness to see him again. She began to tear up as well, got up slightly, and hugged him. They embraced for what seemed like an eternity, laughing with slight insanity and allowing tears of happiness fall freely from their eyes. They had almost lost each other, Kyle had almost lost himself, but they overcame it together in a way no one else could have.

As they parted and stood, Jessi took a step back, her hands in Kyle's, and tried to let go but he held on.

"Kyle…" she began, but he closed the distance.

"Jessi… if you hadn't come after me, I would have never been alright with myself again. I would have stayed angry, and hateful for the rest of my life. You risked everything, just to make sure that I would come home so I wanted to thank you. Thank you, Jessi, for being there when I needed you most." Kyle said, and leaned in for a kiss.

Jessi frowned and looked away, pursing her lips as Kyle drew away in confusion.

"I don't understand… why…?" Kyle began, but stopped when Jessi turned back to him, her eyes shining with tears.

"You are like this now, it's just us, but as soon as we go back home you'll change. You'll be distant, and confused, and I'll be hurt again. I… I want you, Kyle, I want us to be together and I think that's how it's _supposed_ to be, but you love Amanda." Jessi stated clearly, allowing no tears to fall.

"Jessi… I…" Kyle paused and Jessi cut him off.

"We're young… we have time. Right now we need to get home and let everyone know you're okay, it's almost dark." She said with a smile, wiping under her eyes.

"No." Kyle said bluntly, Jessi looked at him in surprise.

"What?" she asked incredulously.

"I can't go back… not yet. I have too many unresolved questions in my head, and if they're not answered then…" Kyle trailed off, clearly shaken.

"Kyle, what are you trying to say?" Jessi asked, with slight anger.

"It's like… like there's…"

He paused, thinking deeply, and then looked back at her with concerned eyes.

"There's a part of me that I don't like… a dark part, when I lose control." Kyle admitted with fear.

"Kyle, everyone is like that… especially me." Jessi said, with a slight smile.

"I can stop it, I can deal with it as long as I know the truth." Kyle said, his fortitude clear.

"The truth about what?" Jessi asked with emotion.

"How Cassidy can be my brother, who is Grace Kingsley, and why Latnok hasn't retaliated yet after _two_ days." Kyle exclaimed.

They stood in silence for a moment, as Kyle fumed. Jessi gauged his emotions, and sighed without Kyle noticing.

"The only problem is there's no one who can tell us…" he muttered.

"Kyle. Don't be angry, but I think I know someone who can help. If I can get you some of the answers you're looking for, will you promise to come home?" Jessi asked.

"Yes, of course… who did you have in mind?" Kyle asked hopefully.

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The two walked down the motel hallway, found the room 214, and entered after picking the lock. Brian was sitting on the other side of his desk, papers scattered across it, and looked up with a smile.

"Good job, Jessi, it's good to see you again, Kyle." He smiled, stood, and offered his hand.

"I have questions, and you're the only one who can answer them." Kyle said, ignoring the hand which Brian withdrew.

"On what subject?" he asked with mock curiosity, sitting down.

"The experiment: how it started, who was involved, how they were involved… basically, everything from before I was created to the night Foss dragged me out of Zzyzx." Kyle said, taking a seat as Jessi sat at the foot of the bed.

"That's a pretty hefty subject… are you sure you're ready to know?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It doesn't matter. I have to know, and you're going to tell me the truth… I'll know if you're not." He said, tapping his head.

Brian took his measure of the young man in front of him, checked his watch, and then looked in his eyes.

"This will be a very long, and tedious, conversation and you may grow angry. If you 'lash out' at me, we're done and you can find a new avenue to discover the truth." He said very clearly.

"Agreed." Kyle said, excitement rushing through him.

"So, you want to know more about your creation? I can tell you…" Brian smirked from behind his desk.

"Then let's get started." Jessi said impatiently.

"Well, it was the first week of college for Adam and me…"

_We all have questions. My questions were no more important than anyone else's but at the moment I didn't care. I wanted the truth, and I was going to get it if it took me a year. Delaying these answers had been dangerous, but now I only had to wait a few moments before the answers were given._

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**(Author's Note Hint: A = 1, B = 2, etc. / = Space between words, - = separation of numbers)**

Kyle XY, Season Four. Every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST.


	4. Episode Four: Return to the Past

Four

A Kyle XY FanFiction

By: AMysteriousAuthor

**Underlined italics represent present-day narration.**

**A/N: Finally, I can speak to you openly. I won't tell you who I am, just yet, but know that I'm attempting to share Kyle's story with the world, because it needs to be shared. I apologize for any disappointment the truth brings, but I swear that what I give you is nothing but.**

**I am in no official way associated with Kyle XY. **

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Episode Four: Return to the Past

_1982. It was only our second week of freshman year at college when we met her in Pockets, the local billiards bar, showing off like she loved to do. Sarah was amazing at it, and she used that to collect spending money… or at least she did, before they stopped betting against her there. Then she had to go elsewhere._

Brian walked in, followed closely by Adam, who groaned at their surroundings. A lot of seniors were being loud, and rowdy, over by the pool tables and Adam detested loud noises. Brian just smiled and led the way to the bar, and ordered two sodas.

"This doesn't seem like a good place to study." Adam said lowly, narrowing his eyes.

"As if you need to study. Have you ever played pool?" Brian asked, gesturing to the tables with the crowd.

"It never interested me." Adam said with simple displeasure.

"Lighten up, Adam; you can't stay in the science building all the time." Brian said, shaking his head.

"Only because you drag me out." Adam smiled.

"That's because, as nice of a guy you are, you have a very socially inept disposition." Brian said as Adam looked at him skeptically.

"And that means you… are what? Nice?" Adam said with a laugh.

"Man, you just got it handed to you by a _girl!_" one of the seniors with a letterman's jacket said joyfully.

The two friends looked over and saw her, about 5'9 wearing a red leather jacket with rolled up sleeves, and black shirt underneath. She had an arrogant smile on her face, her white teeth contrasting her curly, shoulder-length black hair. Adam's eyes grew wide, and he looked down at his blue button up shirt and black slacks.

"Rare to see such a good looking… Adam?" Brian asked as he turned to his friend and saw that he was upset.

"How can I talk to her in _this?_" he asked in horror.

"You always dress like that." Brian said, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

"You think she'll mind?" he asked, worried.

"Adam… I'll go with no, but…" Brian began but Adam just stood and walked over briskly.

Brian watched, wide-eyed, as Adam approached the seniors and looked straight at the girl.

"I would like to take you out on a date." He said simply.

All the older students burst out laughing. The girl's eyebrow raised high as her mouth fell slightly agape.

"Listen, kid, a woman like this isn't interested in small fries like…" one of the larger ones began, but Adam interrupted.

"So what do you think?" he asked kindly.

She allowed herself a challenging smile and said curiously, "Alright. I'll go on a date with you; _if_ you can sink three balls in the same time it takes me to clear a whole table."

Adam looked down at the pool table, and concentrated. Brian walked over, and split the crowd so he could walk to Adam.

"Actually, he's never played billiards so…" he began but Adam cut him off.

"I accept the conditions." He smiled at the girl.

"Great!" she said and smiled widely, and began to rack the balls.

Adam walked to the nearest table and set up his game with help from Brian.

"What do you hope to accomplish? That's Sarah Emerson, the only freshman on the Billiard Club's board." Brian hissed.

"I know who she is; she's also a member of the honor society for chemistry." Adam said with a smile.

"So… you agreed to these conditions because…?" Brian asked, as they removed the triangle.

"I want to take her out on a date." Adam said blatantly and looked to Sarah.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Of course." Adam said, smiling.

"Start it off." She smiled.

Adam nodded and looked to his table. He counted down from three aloud and then broke the formation of balls. He ran to the side and set up a shot, took it and missed. Sarah still hadn't touched hers; rather she looked at him with interest. Finally, after four tries, Adam sank a ball and jumped as he heard a shattering crack as Sarah began her game. He heard at least three sink just from the break and saw Sarah calmly walk around to the side and shoot, another sink. He tried to concentrate, but as soon as he prepared to go for a shot, he would hear a crack and a sink. Finally he managed a second ball and chanced a look at her table. She had four balls left, and saw him looking. She winked and took a shot, now she had three balls left.

Adam was sweating with nervousness and took a wild shot, almost sinking the eight ball by accident. He ignored Brian's worried face and leapt _over_ to the other side of the table. He lined up a shot, fired, and barely missed.

"Eight ball, corner pocket." He heard Sarah say, as she prepared for a shot.

Adam fired his final attempt and the cue ball slammed into the striped ball, launching it into the pocket as Sarah's cue ball contacted the eight ball. Adam turned, victorious, as her eight ball sank into the pocket she had called.

The crowd stopped talking as Sarah stared at his table, eyes widening as she realized she had lost.

"Did she just lose?" someone asked, and Sarah flipped around viciously.

"Who said that?" she hissed.

"Calm down, it was just a game." Brian offered, but Sarah then directed her fury to him.

"I didn't lose, you understand that?" she said, viciously approaching him.

"Well, yes, you kind of did." He said with a smirk.

"I let you have a head start." She said, seething, to Adam

"… You let arrogance get in the way of your skill. You would have been done before I sank my second one if you had started when I did." Adam said simply.

Sarah looked down, and then spun as the crowd began to laugh at her.

"Don't laugh at me, I beat all of you!" she said loudly, but they dispersed in chuckles.

"So, how about Friday at 7:00?" Adam asked.

She looked at him incredulously.

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"_She still went out with him after he had beaten her?" Jessi asked, her eyebrow raised._

"_Yes. It went disastrously, Adam later told me, as all they spoke about was billiards. Or rather, she spoke about billiards and Adam listened intently." Brian said with a smile._

"_That's how Adam met Sarah. How did he meet Grace Kingsley?" Kyle asked._

_Brian narrowed his eyes and sat up slowly, placing his arms on his desk._

"_How do you know about Grace?" he asked softly._

"_Cassidy is her son, and he told me that I am as well." Kyle said._

_Brian paused, looking to the desk reflectively. Kyle shifted impatiently and Brian looked up, with a sigh._

"_I'll tell you about her, but you have to realize that Grace only started really hanging around Adam our second year. Before that, she had watched him from a distance." Brian said, nodding._

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Adam walked out of his physics class, and the teacher's aide followed him.

"Hello William, what is it?" Adam asked kindly, but also hinting at impatience.

Mr. Kern was short, and gaining weight slowly. His hair had already begun to recede and his vision grew worse by the day. He was wearing a white shirt and black pants, which was coincidentally precisely what Adam was wearing.

"Adam, I've noticed you haven't been wearing your ring." Kern said, licking his lips nervously.

"I don't feel comfortable wearing it, not until Brian receives his." Adam said sternly.

Brian walked over to them as students began to exit their respective classes.

"William, any news on my ring?" he asked kindly.

"We're working on it, Brian, I'll go check now." Kern said, stiffly, and walked away.

"He's not going to check on it." Brian said disappointedly.

"It is difficult to change the sizes, Brian, and you know there can only be so many official members at once." Adam said, reassuringly.

They turned the corner and Adam was leapt on by a female with dark hair.

"Sarah!" Adam exclaimed, almost falling down.

"I did it, Adam, the national Biochemistry Exam results came down today, first place University of Washington Sophomore, Sarah Emerson." She said, her smile as wide as it could be.

"That's great, Sarah, that means you beat the other three members of Latnok who entered. Now they have to let you join." Adam said with a smile as well.

"I don't really care about that anymore Adam, after all didn't I just prove that I don't need them?" she asked, her mood falling a little.

"Adam Baylin?" a female voice asked from behind them.

The three turned and saw a young woman slightly taller than Sarah with black hair and a very piercing, but still friendly, gaze. She wore large, square, glasses and had on bright red lipstick.

"Hello." Adam said, feigning kindness.

"I'm Grace Kingsley, I'm another member of Latnok." She smiled, offering her left hand which bore her ring.

Adam shook it, and caught her eyes widen slightly as she saw he wasn't wearing his.

"Were you a part of the Biochemistry Test, Ms. Latnok?" Sarah asked, seething.

"No… such a boring subject I thought." Grace said, smirking.

Sarah narrowed her eyes, and looked to Adam but he was still looking at Grace.

"Then what subjects interest you?" Adam asked, more interested now.

"Mostly machinery, actually, but I dabble in other things. I want to become an engineer, so mathematics is a must." She smiled.

"Ah, so that's what you want." Brian said flatly, Grace turned to him.

"What, to ask Adam for help? Actually no, I wanted to ask you…" she turned back to him. "…if you wanted to join Latnok's student meeting this afternoon. William told us about your notes, and we wanted to see if we could help with anything."

Sarah started to say something, but Adam interrupted.

"Yes, I'll be there and thank you." He said with a smile.

"Great, we'll see you then." Grace smiled at him and walked away.

He turned to Brian and Sarah, who both had strange looks on their faces.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing. I have to get to class." Sarah said venomously and walked past him.

"What's wrong with her?" Adam muttered, looking to Brian.

"Adam, I thought you said you weren't going to any of the meetings until I was there?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.

"You heard William, your ring is almost ready… you can join the next one, and I'll already have a grasp on how everything works." Adam said, smiling.

"Sure… sure, Adam. See you after school." Brian said, shaking his head.

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"_What happened at the meeting?" Kyle asked._

"_I don't know, it took another three months for me to finally be included in one." Brian said._

"_Why did Grace bother Sarah so much?" Kyle asked, earning a heated look from Jessi which he ignored._

"_Because, by that time, Sarah had proven to herself that Latnok was inferior to her. That day was also their one year anniversary which Adam forgot." Brian said, Jessi growled._

"_He forgot their one year anniversary?" she asked._

"_He did. He apologized to her later, they made up." Brian allowed a little disappointment into his voice._

"_That happened in 1983?" Kyle asked._

"_Yes, it was August… we had just got back to school." Brian said, placing his hand on his head._

"_Tell me when and why Adam started Zzyzx." Kyle demanded, but kindly._

"_That's easy… we had a lengthy discussion about it actually." Brian said with ease._

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Brian stared at the plans on the table, while Adam bit his thumbnail. Brian closed his eyes, and rubbed his head slightly.

"You want… to go around Latnok?" Brian asked.

"They want me to be their… savior… or something like that." Adam said, shaking his head.

"Maybe you're supposed to be." Brian offered, but Adam just scoffed.

"Whether I am or not, I don't want to be. I want to help the world scientifically, not religiously." Adam said.

"Some would say there's little difference, Adam." Brian said, looking at his friend seriously.

"Kern and I have it all worked out, and Grace has already found the egg. The pod is ready, and Latnok still doesn't know about it." Adam said, containing his excitement.

"Adam… you can't believe this will end well. Latnok wants to help you, why do you want to ignore them?" Brian asked, slightly whiny.

"Latnok will find a new figurehead, they always have. This experiment has the potential to change the scientific world. I can make another person who is just like me." Adam said, tapping the side of his head.

"You still haven't told Sarah any of this, have you?" Brian asked him.

"She wouldn't understand, she doesn't like Latnok… or Grace." Adam said dismissively.

"I wonder why… two and half years you have been together, and you've still never told her you love her." Brian said.

"She knows I do, there's no time for this discussion right now. Will you help me start the company?" Adam asked.

"Of course, Adam, but I think you should consider the ramifications of…" Brian began but Adam just slid over some paperwork.

"Consider yourself President of Zzyzx." He smiled.

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"_That wasn't lengthy." Kyle said._

"_It was a lot longer in my head." Brian admitted._

"_When was that, anyway, 84?" Jessi asked._

"_Actually, that took place in February of 1985." Brian said, Kyle's eyes widened._

"_That was the year…" he began._

"_The year Adam won the science grant, and got his picture in the local news? Yes, but that happened in March. Funny, most of that grant went to purchasing the location for Zzyzx." Brian trailed off._

"_We still have another five years before mine and Jessi's conception." Kyle pointed out._

"_Yes, five years of hard labor and disappointment. Once we had secured the location, setting it up for the experiments was much harder than we had anticipated. Finally, in 1988, the facility of Zzyzx was ready for the experiments to begin. We-" Brian was cut off by Jessi._

"_Tell me about me. If you're my father, and Sarah was with Adam, what happened?" Jessi asked._

"_Adam dropped out of school, and for four years we kept our location a secret from everyone but Kern, who was working with Latnok at the time although we didn't know it. We also thought that Grace had severed her ties, but that was also inaccurate. One day, Kern sent me to his office back on campus and I was stopped by Grace, who told me that it was her eggs they were using and that Latnok wanted me on their side. Adam had grown distant from the cause, and I hadn't. So I agreed, we all decided to keep it a secret. Anyway, while I was exiting the campus, Sarah saw me." Brian said._

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"Brian?" Sarah exclaimed from across the yard.

He stopped, cussed at himself, and turned to see her eyes widened, running over to him.

"Sarah." He acknowledged.

"What… what are you…?" she asked, still in shock at what she was seeing.

"Sarah, you really don't want to ask." He said honestly, and turned away.

Sarah grabbed him and forcefully turned him around.

"You and Adam disappear, and leave me here for four years while I'm ridiculed and accused of…" she trailed off, and Brian sighed.

"Sarah… we read about you being expelled. We also read about you cracking, but you seem alright to me." He said, tilting his head.

"One of my good days… but it might turn into a bad one. What are you doing, what is _Adam_ doing?" she asked, viciously.

"You know I can't tell you that, Sarah." Brian said sadly.

"Right, because I'm incapable of keeping the great Latnok's secrets, right?" she snarled.

"He's working apart from Latnok now… he didn't like their plan." Brian said, half-truthfully.

Sarah unconsciously rubbed her left hand, where she wore a Latnok ring with a red stone. Brian looked at it fondly, and then to her.

"Adam made that for you… you still wear it?" Brian asked softly.

"Only today…" she sighed, looking at it.

"This would have been six years together… wouldn't it?" he asked her, remembering the date.

"It still is, since he never had the decency to end it." She hissed, her eyes narrowing.

"He ended it in his mind, he and Grace are expecting a child." Brian said, not untruthfully.

Sarah recoiled and blinked, shaking her head twice. She looked down at her hands, which began to tremble.

"They're… expecting a child?" Sarah said, confused.

"Yes… they've been working on it very diligently." Brian said, and slightly smirked as Sarah turned and gagged.

"He left, and went with Grace Kingsley to 'work' diligently on spreading his seed?" Sarah exclaimed angrily.

"Yes… yes he did." Brian said, sensing opportunity.

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"_That night, Sarah and I got drunk. Me, because I was sick of being Adam's second and Sarah, because she was just depressed. One thing led to another, and six weeks later she contacted me and told me she was pregnant, with you Jessi." Brian said, rubbing his eyes tiredly._

"_So you just got her drunk and…" Jessi began angrily._

"_Something like that, and I acknowledge it wasn't the best option… but I don't regret a second of what I did. If I hadn't, you wouldn't be here." He said sincerely._

"_Oh please…" Jessi rolled her eyes._

"_If Jessi was conceived naturally, how did she end up in the pod?" Kyle asked._

"_Actually, she was placed in the pod the same day you were successfully created, after five attempts to extract the fetus after fourteen months, we did it in batches." Brian said, smiling._

"_Tell us." Kyle demanded._

"_Alright, but it's not a pleasant story." Brian said, shaking his head._

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"Are you sure about this?" Sarah asked, frightened.

Her stomach was already slightly round as she got out of his car, and walked towards an entrance of Zzyzx. At the door there were several people dressed in doctor's coats, including a familiar face.

"Dennis?" Sarah exclaimed.

"Hey, sis!" Dennis Emerson smiled, hugging her.

He was taller than she was, and had short curly hair. He had their genetically perfect smile, and an incredible mind of his own.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, relieved that she wasn't alone.

"I'm Zzyzx's Chief Medical Officer." He said, smiling as Brian walked up.

"So you monitor…"

"I monitor the health of the fetus as they develop, yes." He smiled.

Sarah exhaled deeply, and said, "Alright… I'm as ready as I ever will be. Let's get this over with."

They took her through the back of the facility and to a room with a comfortable looking chair, and a strange tank that was open and filled with pink fluid. She changed into a special gown and sat on the chair, as Dennis set up an I.V. Sarah fell into a deep sleep as he injected some clear liquid into her system.

"Remember what we spoke about, Dennis." Brian said, his hand over his mouth.

"If we're successful, Sarah dies. I know." Dennis said grimly, and put his mask across his face.

"That's a dark way to put it." Brian shrugged and exited the room.

Dennis opened his sister up with a scalpel, and separated her womb surgically. His staff began to rush, as his mad orders became louder over the beeping of the machines. The room was bloody, and loud, as they extracted a barely four-month old fetus from its mother, and set it into a pod of untested fluid. Dennis ignored the status of the child and saved his sister, making sure she was fully intact and out of danger before turning his attention to the pod. The child had died, possibly before they had even extracted it, but Dennis grabbed it and inserted a small wire through its fleshy head, sending electricity through it and bringing it back to life. He set it back in the tank and closed the system as the heartbeat monitor beeped for the first time.

Brian entered as soon as the room was no longer sterile and grabbed Sarah with the help of Dennis, and they put her outside in a car. The process had only taken approximately two hours.

"Remember, take her to the airport and get her out of Seattle. She knows that Latnok would never want her to leave the facility, I told her about what happened to Adam and Grace." Brian said, and Dennis nodded.

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"_So I have an uncle?" Jessi asked._

"_Dennis was still with Zzyzx when Foss blew it up as far as I know." Brian said, shaking his head._

"_What happened to Adam and Grace, what you warned Sarah about?" Kyle asked._

"_In the best interest of the experiment, Grace suggested they stay in the facility at all times. She was ordered that way by Latnok, although Adam never knew that. He never even knew that the owner of Zzyzx was actually Victor Ballantine, the C.E.O. of Madacorp and a member of the Latnok board." Brain said, leaning back._

"_So there never was really any difference between Zzyzx, and Latnok in the end?" Kyle asked._

"_No, not really. I was president of Zzyzx, and a member of Latnok, Kern was Head of Student Affairs for Latnok and Senior Vice-President of Zzyzx. Grace was Head of Mechanics and Software for Zzyzx, and on the Latnok board eventually. Anyone aside from Adam with a leadership position in Zzyzx, was actually Latnok." Brian explained._

"_So… Grace is really my mother." Kyle said, sitting down._

"_Technically speaking, yes. But there's more to being a parent than genetics, as I've so clearly demonstrated." Brian said, spreading his arms._

_Kyle and Jessi sat in silence for a brief moment, before Jessi looked up confusedly._

"_If Adam and Sarah met in fall 1982,how did they carve their initials and the Latnok symbol into the table at the diner that same year?" Jessi asked._

"_That was meant as a 'since 82' not literally 1982. Adam carved that in summer of 83, during their last visit to that diner." Brian shook his head._

_Jessi lowered her head in quiet contemplation, and Brian stood up._

"_Now that you've had past laid out for you, it's time for you to fix the present. You will both go back to your home, and you will apologize for allowing your personal emotions to hurt them. Then, you will live your lives… cautiously. There is still a danger out there, Kyle, and you need to be very careful." He said, walking to the door._

_The two stood, and walked outside together, but Kyle stopped and turned back to Brian._

"_Thank you, for answering our questions." Kyle said._

"_I'm not all bad, just mostly." He smiled._

_Kyle nodded and walked out, Taylor closing the door behind them._

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The door opened, and Jessi walked in. The Tragers stood and rushed to the doorway, eyes wide. Jessi stood to the side as Kyle walked in, eyes already watery.

"I… I'm so…" he choked slightly, a tear running from his left eye.

His family just smiled, all slightly tearing up as well, and converged on him in a large hug. Jessi tried to escape, but Lori roped her into the hug as well.

_Family. I thought I had understood what it meant to be a family, but the truth is that I had no idea until that moment. The moment where, despite all of the things I had done and put them through, they all stood in forgiveness. I cried, freely, for one of the few times in my life, and so did they._

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"Hello Taylor." Cassidy said from the doorway, Brian Taylor jumped.

"Oh, it's you… you little brat. I remember you." Brian smirked, standing up.

"So… you got my job." He said, walking towards his bed.

"Yes, your mother assigned it to me personally… does that sting a bit?" he asked.

"Where can I find Dennis Emerson, Taylor?" Cassidy asked.

Brian smirked and strode over to him, one hand in the pocket of his pajama pants.

"He's dead, burned to a crisp when Zzyzx became an oven." Brian said with a shrug.

"You know, I might believe that if I hadn't personally seen Sarah Emerson not even a month ago." Cassidy said with a smirk.

"Did you, now?" Brian asked.

"Yes, but don't worry, this time she won't come back from the dead… I made sure of that." Cassidy smiled.

Brian launched an unexpected kick to Cassidy's stomach, knocking him to the ground. He leapt on him, and sunk his elbow into Cassidy's throat.

"You have no idea what you did to Jessi when you killed Sarah." Brian snarled, Cassidy slammed his head with a retractable, steel baton.

Brian fell to the ground, his head split open and blood freely dripping to the ground. Cassidy stood over him, rubbing his throat.

"Brian, didn't you know? I don't give a damn what happens to Jessi." He smiled, and kicked Brian in the side, causing him to crunch up.

"You can't re-integrate them, it will kill them both!" Brian coughed.

Cassidy grabbed Brian's hand and forced a Latnok ring on his finger, then pulled his bloodied head up to his mouth.

"I'm counting on it." Cassidy hissed, and slammed Brian's face into the wooden floor.

He stood, and pulled out the device he had used before on Kyle at the Trager house. He turned the voltage up to its maximum potential.

"Brian, you know I developed this myself? I never had smarts, but I'm really good at inventions. I made this specifically for those damned rings, which I was never deemed worthy enough to wear." Cassidy said, with a smile on his face.

He zapped Brian, who roared in pain as sparks of electricity jumped around in his mouth.

"It won't leave a mark on the outside, but it burns the inside… so tell me, where is Dennis Emerson?" Cassidy asked savagely, shocking him again.

Brian screamed in pain as his blood began to boil.

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Kyle XY, Season Four. Every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST.


	5. Episode Five: Back to Basics

Four

A Kyle XY FanFiction

By: AMysteriousAuthor

**Underlined italics represent Kyle's narration.**

**Bold italics represent Jessi's narration.**

**A/N: This note is more of a warning: You may feel a slight pinch. **

**I am in no official way associated with Kyle XY. **

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Episode Five: Back to Basics

_I walked into the kitchen and smiled as I saw the door and patio were fixed, exactly as they had been before. Beyond that, I saw Amanda in her window just before she moved away. Today I had to speak with her, and I had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy. Nothing worth doing ever is._

Josh walked in, but Kyle was lost in his thoughts as he stared at the patio door.

"So." Josh stated, Kyle turned around.

"So?" Kyle asked with hesitation.

"You're going to help me, with your super brain, and in return I'll forgive you for being an asshat these past few days." Josh said simply, grabbing himself a pear.

Kyle looked away with his eyes narrowed in confusion and said, "Asshat?"

"He means you've been anti-Kyle, so you have to make up for it." Lori offered as she opened the fridge.

"We have two weeks until the huge EOSRTH party. I need you to figure out how we're all going to go, without letting the parentals know about it." Josh said, smiling.

"What type of party is that?" Kyle asked, his eyebrow raising slightly.

"End of Summer, Return to Hell party. Only dorks call it EOSRTH." Lori explained, rolling her eyes.

"Admittedly, it's not the best acronym ever created… but still, EOSRTH is only for juniors and above. So Kyle, you, Lori, and I are going to be attending." Josh explained, biting his pear.

"What about Jessi?" Lori asked, earning strange looks from her brothers.

"Well… she and I are trying to get along so…" Lori looked away ashamedly.

"Yeah… I already talked to Jessi, and she said that she, and I quote, 'doesn't have good experiences at school parties'" Josh said, shaking his head.

"I guess that's true… where is she, anyway?" Lori asked, looking around.

"She must still be asleep, I mean look at what she did last night." Josh said, pointing at the newly repaired door.

"I can't believe she didn't wake anyone up." Lori said, shaking her head.

"I can't believe she stayed awake after what she and I did." Kyle said, earning wide eyes from his siblings.

"Ah, gross man!" Josh cried, Kyle turned towards them.

"Kyle you really have to start choosing your words more carefully." Lori frowned.

"So, what's on everyone's plates today?" Stephen asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Silent solitude." Lori muttered, rolling her eyes and exiting the room.

Stephen looked at her as she left and then up to his sons.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"She may still be upset at our position on Mark and Latnok." Kyle suggested, squinting slightly.

"Well she can get over it. I don't want any of you to have anything to do with that group of people." Stephen said, looking directly at Kyle.

"I agree, the further we stay away the safer we are." Kyle nodded.

"Well gentlemen, not that this isn't fun, but I have to go to work. Kyle, you still coming?" Josh asked.

"Yes." He said with a nod and grabbed his jacket. The two walked out the newly renovated door and on to the patio.

"So what happens now?" Nicole asked her husband as she walked in.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Latnok isn't going to just give up. Cassidy will come back for them, both of them, so what do we do now?" she asked, worry etched into her face.

Stephen sighed, and hugged his wife and then kissed the top of her head.

"We won't run away. If there's still danger, we'll face it like we've always done: as a family." He said decisively.

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Jessi wasn't asleep, and she wasn't even in the house. As Kyle woke up and admired her work on the patio entrance, she was walking up to Brian Taylors' hotel room. She knocked on the door three times, and then waited. After about ten seconds of no response, she picked the lock and walked in anyway. The room was cleaned and the bed made as if Brian had checked out. She sighed and walked out, and down the hall towards the elevator. Jessi entered the lobby and walked to the receptionist with her best, fake smile.

"Hello dear, may I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, my father told me to meet him here in room 214, did he check out this morning?" Jessi asked.

"Let me see…" she typed on her computer slightly. "214 hasn't had an occupant for a little over a week."

Jessi narrowed her eyes slightly at the lie, but then nodded and thanked the woman for her time. She walked out of the hotel, and turned the corner straight into a stop as she saw Michael Cassidy standing there, staring at her with a grin on his face.

"Hello Jessi, you're looking quite well for a dead girl." He said, flashing his smile.

Jessi started towards him, eyes wide, but he held up a finger as a family passed her. The sidewalk was crowded with innocent people, and Jessi understood. He was safe to talk to her here, she wouldn't take revenge in front of all these people.

"What do you want?" she asked, her teeth bared.

"I wanted to apologize to you, and I know you don't believe me, but I wanted to say that Latnok is officially done with chasing you and Kyle. They've lost too much to continue." He shrugged.

"You're a liar and a murderer, why should I believe you?" Jessi snarled, advancing slightly.

"You don't have to, but I thought you should know. Also, I wanted to apologize to you for Sarah, it was wrong of me to defend myself so viciously." He said solemnly, Jessi's eyes grew wide.

"What did you do to Brian?" she asked.

"Nothing. I gave him my blessing and invited him to stay in my old quarters, since I'm leaving the state." He said simply.

Cassidy turned to walk away, but Jessi grabbed his arm and spun him around.

"What did you do with her body?" she asked, with no anger, only sadness.

"Sarah? I have no idea. Latnok dealt with it." Cassidy said with a frown.

Jessi looked away, letting go of his arm, and then began to tear up. She turned and walked away as her eyes watered. As soon as she had turned the corner, Cassidy pulled out his cellphone and pressed 'three' on his speed dial.

"Cassidy." a voice asked metallically after two rings.

"Sir, 781227 has let down its guard, and soon 781228 will follow. The plan can be put into motion, as soon as their presence at the party is guaranteed." He said, licking his lip.

"Very well, the plan will be put into effect, now your orders are to secure the aide of Dennis Emerson and to stay out of sight. You will be contacted with further instruction when the time is near." The voice said, and then hung up.

Cassidy smiled and turned off his cellphone, and then walked away.

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Kyle sat on the bench, surrounded by flowers. The park had regained its beauty since the last time Kyle had sat there with Amanda, but he knew that soon the flowers would begin to fade as the temperature dropped and the ice came. As he contemplated the loss of such beauty, Amanda sat next to him with a smile.

"Kyle." She said warmly.

He turned towards her with wonder. Her hair was brightened by the sun and he eyes shone with reflections of the flowers around them. His stomach fluttered with butterflies from the closeness of her warmth.

"Amanda…" Kyle said softly as she looked into his eyes.

Her smile left her face as her eyes darted around his, taking in every piece of him. They leaned towards each other, and she placed her hand on the side of his cheek. He touched her back and leaned into the kiss with his eyes closed. Their lips touched, and parted slightly as Amanda's other hand touched the back of Kyle's head and pulled him closer.

Natural warmth radiated around them and all of the degrading flowers bloomed full once more. The fountains in the park began to mist sending rainbows through the soft, watery atmosphere. Real butterflies swarmed out of the flowers and flew in a painted cyclone around the circle where the two sat, lips locked together.

For what felt like an eternity the two sat, with nothing else but their love filling the world. Finally, when they drew away from each other, the light and flowers stayed the same as they had been during the kiss. Amanda looked around them with wonder, her mouth open into a surprised smile at the butterflies flying around them. Kyle was focused completely on her, his blue eyes smoldering as his heart took control.

"Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" she whispered, looking at him once again.

"Every day of my life." He said softly, still looking only at her.

They closed their eyes and once more ventured into the world of bright, vivid colors and golden warmth.

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"I don't get it." Declan said, throwing his hand up in confusion.

"What is there not to get?" Lori asked.

They sat across The Rack from Kyle and Amanda, who were sitting attached to one another at a computer, laughing and drinking their respective smoothies.

"Jessi totally saved his ass. They were _meant_ to be together, it's practically genetic! So what is he doing with Amanda?" Declan sighed with frustration.

"Look, he has to choose right? So between Jessi, the 'I want to be good, but I also want to tear throats out' girl and Amanda, the 'I love everything, everyone, and I have a sweet soul' girl, who would you honestly pick?" Lori asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Point taken, but isn't he worried what Jessi will do once she finds out he chose Amanda?" Declan asked.

"Look at them. Jessi is obviously the furthest thing from their minds." Lori said with a smile.

The door to The Rack opened and Declan looked up but it was only Mark.

"I was hoping that was Jessi… then things would get interesting." Declan said, smiling.

"Oh God, it's worse than Jessi!" Lori said, covering her face.

Declan looked at her incredulously as Mark walked over to them.

"Hey Lori." He said, tentatively smiling.

"Can't talk to you, Mark." Lori said, looking away while covering her face.

"Look… I don't know what's happening, exactly, but I get that you're pissed at me for some reason. I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for whatever I did." He exclaimed, leaning towards her.

"Look man, you can't be seen talking to Lori, because then her dad might find out. The Tragers have been banned from Latnok interaction." Declan explained.

"I guess that makes sense, sort of… but Lori, whatever Cassidy was doing, it was just him. Not us." Mark said, sitting down.

"Mark, I can't talk to you, okay?" Lori exclaimed, looking at him.

"Fine. Declan, what's going on?" Mark asked, turning.

"Well, despite everything, Kyle is now with Amanda… even though he and Jessi have been sparking for a long time." Declan sighed, looking over at his best friend.

"Hey, no! You don't get to talk to him either!" Lori exclaimed.

"By the way, you're not banned from Latnok, right?" Mark asked him, pushing his glasses up.

"No way, my old man is never around and my mom likes wine way too much to care who I'm hanging out with." Declan said with a smile.

"Awesome, then there is absolutely no problem with me talking to you." Mark said, looking at Lori with a smirk.

"None at all." He said with an equal smirk at Lori, who glared at them both.

"Fine, then I can't be seen with either of you." She said with a sneer, and stood up.

As she walked away, Mark looked at Declan sadly.

"Thanks for the backup." He sighed and stood up.

"No problem, Romeo." Declan raised his smoothie.

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Jessi knocked on Brian's office door, and was called in by the man himself. He had a bandage around his head, but otherwise greeted her normally.

"Hello Jessi, glad to see you here. How did it go last night?" he asked as she sat down.

"What happened to your head?" she asked with concern, earning an eyebrow raise.

"You're worried about me?" he asked with a smile, Jessi shuffled in her chair.

"Maybe just a little." Jessi allowed with a small smile.

"I fell down the stairs at the hotel this morning while checking out, nothing major." He smiled.

"So Cassidy had nothing to do with it?" she asked.

"I didn't see Cassidy until a little over an hour ago, had to grab some of my things and he was there." Brian said, as if it meant nothing.

"Brian… you're sure nothing happened?" she asked intently.

"Jess, not _everyone _is out to get you." He said with a light smile.

"Cassidy murdered my _mother_." Jessi said, narrowing her eyes.

"Sarah 'dies' a lot, Jessi, there's no proof that this time she's actually gone." He shrugged.

Jessi stood abruptly, her eyes widening with fury.

"I can't believe that's what you think." She said, shocked.

"I want us all to be able to move on, I'm Head of Student Affairs for Latnok now, and Cassidy has left the state. There's no one else to worry about, you're safe Jessi so try to live a normal life as much as you can." Brian said dismissively, turning around.

Jessi glared at him, and noticed a red bump on his neck, similar to the one on Amanda's after Latnok abducted her. Realizing what must have happened, Jessi hurried out into the hall and ran into Nate.

"Whoa, easy there killer!" he exclaimed.

"Move." She said flatly, pushing him aside.

"Hey, you might want to head over to The Rack… quite a spectacle down there." Nate called after her with a smile as she disappeared from sight.

He shook his head and walked into Brian's office, setting papers down on his desk. Brian just stared at him, eyes wide as Cassidy walked in as well, holding a black tablet.

"That's so freaky… how does it work?" Nate asked, waving his hand in front of Brian's face.

"It's basically acting as a restriction device. Anything he tries to consciously do is filtered into this control program, and I decide whether or not it requires editing. My mother designed it a long time ago, but sadly it dissolves after about a week." Cassidy frowned, as Brian looked around and blinked.

"So you're letting him do that?" Nate said, pointing.

"Yep, except the blinking… that's involuntary." Cassidy said, and turned the restrictor off for a moment.

Brian lunged across the desk, grabbing for the tablet in Cassidy's hands, but then fell to the floor flat.

"Why don't you just put one of those into Kyle or Jessi?" Nate asked.

"They would overload the system and it would be useless. It only works on below genius IQ's." Cassidy smiled as he allowed Brian to get up and walk back to his desk.

He turned off filtering of certain systems, allowing Brian to speak.

"You'll never pull this off, Michael, your brain is applesauce compared to Kyle and Jessi." He snarled, while his face remained cool.

"That may be true, Brian, but Kyle and Jessi are both easily manipulated by their emotions. I will pull this off, especially with you as my little puppet." Cassidy smiled.

Brian picked up his cellphone and dialed a number only he knew. He waited for four rings before someone picked up.

"What's the emergency?" the voice asked on the other end.

"We need you here in Seattle, Dennis, Sarah has a project for us." Brian said, Cassidy making him sound slightly worried.

"…I'm on my way." Dennis Emerson said, and hung up the phone.

Brian closed his cellphone and looked down at his desk as Cassidy allowed him to speak again.

"He's not that stupid." Brian muttered, filling out a form.

"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. I don't really need him, Brian, I'm only interested in one person really." Cassidy smiled to Nate and silenced Brian.

"Amanda Bloom." Nate laughed.

"Exactly." Cassidy replied, clapping Nate on the shoulder.

Brian involuntarily flinched.

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"And that's everything." Kyle finished, looking into her eyes.

Amanda looked at him with sadness, and touched the side of his face.

"All this time, you thought lying to me was protecting me? Even after Latnok kidnapped me?" She asked, not angry but confused.

"No, I didn't really believe it… but avoiding telling you the truth made it easier for me to focus on a solution to the problem." He said, bowing his head shamefully.

She touched his chin and he raised his face up to meet hers, eyes full of regret.

"I forgive you, Kyle, and now that I know there might be danger I'll be much more careful than I was before. You don't have to worry about me." She said with a gentle smile.

"I'll always worry about you, Amanda." He said honestly, with a smile.

They leaned across the table and shared another kiss, the windows throwing the setting sunlight across The Rack in different ways than ever had been seen before.

"Don't you wish that happened when you kissed a girl?" Josh asked Declan snidely as he was emptying the cash register.

"No way, I do it too much that would just get annoying." Declan smiled crookedly as the door opened.

"Sorry we're closing up…" Josh began but stopped when he saw Jessi walk in swiftly.

"Is Kyle here? I went to the house…" she stopped as she saw them.

Leaning across the table, her hands in his hair, his hands on her waist, locked in a passionate scramble of love. Josh and Declan stood, mouths agape, and stared at Jessi as her face contorted with different emotions: fury, hurt, sadness, hatred, despair, loss, grief, viciousness before finally settling on a cold, blank, stare.

"Fine. If that's what you choose." She said flatly, but loudly enough for the kiss to break and Kyle to turn around.

"Jessi…" Kyle said, shocked.

"Kyle. Amanda." She acknowledged, and walked out the door.

"Jessi, wait!" Kyle called, but Amanda grabbed his wrist.

"No, Kyle, don't go after her." She said, surprised that he would.

"I have to, Amanda, she's very important…"

"I know she is, but Kyle… she likes you, maybe even loves you. You can't have both of us, even as just friends. You can either stay and be with me, or you chase her." Amanda said, tears forming in her eyes.

Kyle started for the door, saying, "I have to have her in my life, even as a friend. What else can I do?"

"You have to choose, Kyle!" Amanda said, her eyes watering.

He stopped as he heard her cry, and turned around. As he saw her look away, openly crying, he felt his heart break from being torn in half. Kyle walked back to Amanda, and hugged her as she wrapped her arms around his waist, sobbing into his chest.

"I choose to be with you, Amanda." He said, closing his eyes in pain.

_Speaking with Amanda hadn't been easy, and I wondered how seeing her had changed my feelings so much. I had every intention of telling her that all we could be was friends, but that changed as soon as we saw each other. As I stood there, holding Amanda in my arms, my thoughts were directed towards the other relationship that had changed drastically. How much would Jessi hate me, now that I had betrayed her in a way worse than any she had been previously?_

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Jessi opened the front door in anger, but closed it gently while trying to keep her emotions in check. Nicole stood in the dining room, looking at her with concern.

"Jessi, are you okay?" she asked.

Jessi turned to her, and as soon as she saw Nicole's worried, parental look, Jessi broke down and began to cry.

"No, no I'm not! I did everything, everything as 'right' as I knew how to, and he still chose Amanda! Brian isn't himself, and I think Cassidy is involved, and now I feel like I'm the only one who cares!" she cried into Nicole's shoulder.

Nicole hugged her closely while trying to absorb all of it and say something correct.

"Jessi… sometimes, when we love someone, we can't be selfish. We have to let them follow their hearts, even if it hurts us. Even if it means we lose them." Nicole said, rubbing the back of Jessi's hair.

"I don't want to lose Kyle, I love him!" Jessi admitted, still crying onto her shoulder.

"So do I… and Jessi, I don't want to lose him either, but, as sad as it may make us, we have to accept that he won't be around forever. Just make the time that you're here, and the time that he's here, something to remember, okay?' she said, looking Jessi in the eyes.

"I can do that…" Jessi said with a smile, wiping the tears away.

"So help him if he needs it, and be there for him when he needs you… but let him be with whoever he wants to be with. Don't interfere." Nicole said, seriously.

Jessi thought for a moment, and then looked Nicole in her face.

"I can do that… I can let him be happy." She said, sadness echoing her in her voice.

"Okay, you go get some sleep now, okay? You can test the waters tomorrow." Nicole smiled.

Jessi nodded and went to her room, wiping off the tears.

_**I didn't lie to Nicole, I could let Kyle be if that's what he wanted. I resolved to figure out what Cassidy was up to myself, and let Kyle worry about his precious Amanda on his own. If he didn't want to pay attention to the bigger picture, then I still could.**_

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Kyle XY, Season Four. Every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST.


	6. Episode Six: Everything Burns

Four

A Kyle XY FanFiction

By: AMysteriousAuthor

**Underlined italics represent Kyle's narration.**

**Bold italics represent Jessi's narration.**

**A/N: While it may be slightly out of place, this episode is one of the more significant events in this season. Just so everyone is prepared, this season will have two parts, much like season two did. Part one will end with Episode 14, and the story will go on a hiatus for a small amount of time, before part two begins.**

**I am in no official way associated with Kyle XY. **

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Episode Six: Everything Burns

_When certain elements are in close proximity of each other, one can get the feeling of nervousness just before the ignition. As I awoke, I felt a similar tension in my stomach equivalent to nervousness or excitement. I was a spark, and Jessi was an equally powerful spark, and the closer we got to one another, the closer the air was to becoming alight._

Kyle walked into the kitchen after his shower, wearing his large robe and a towel around his neck. Jessi was sitting at the counter on a stool, looking intently at an apple she held in her hands. Kyle looked around worriedly, but then back to Jessi who was looking at him with her best fake smile.

"Morning." He said tensely, slightly waving his hand.

"Yes, it is." Jessi murmured, grabbing the newspaper.

"Jessi, listen…" Kyle said quickly, sitting next to her, but she raised a finger.

"There's nothing more to say, I understand. You've chosen Amanda, and that's fine. I won't interfere." She said, letting her face look as truthful as it could.

"You're not mad?" Kyle asked timidly.

"I'm a little sad… but no, I'm not plotting revenge or anything." She said with a half-hearted smile.

Kyle smiled as well, and reached to touch her shoulder but she moved away quickly.

"Do both of us a favor, Kyle, and try not to touch me. The last thing we need is for Amanda to get jealous again." Jessi said seriously, and walked outside.

"That was tense." Josh said from behind him.

Kyle turned to see Lori, Nicole, and Josh standing in the doorway as if they had been there for a while.

"She seemed to be okay." Kyle said, half-shrugging.

"Yes, she's gotten good at that." Nicole nodded, and began the coffee.

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked, confused.

"Jessi is trying to be nice, and sweet I guess, so that you don't feel bad for choosing Amanda. But on the inside she's really upset and hurt." Lori explained.

"What can I do?" Kyle asked with concern.

"Honestly, not very much. Basically, just try to stay out of her hair as much as possible and do not ask her for anything. Ever." Lori said, accentuating the point with her finger.

"Why not?" Kyle asked, with even greater concern.

"Because dude, right now Jessi is just mad at everything. So, if you ask her for anything, either she will: A) Reject you completely, or B) agree with it, and then mess it all up." Josh said, mixing his chocolate milk.

"On a more positive note, they have a Renaissance Festival going on in town, you want to go Kyle? You could invite Amanda." Lori suggested with a smile.

"A Renaissance Festival, an outdoor weekend gathering, usually held in the United States, open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which emulates a historic period for the amusement of its guests. What time period is this festival set in?" Kyle asked, half-smiling.

"It's _supposed _to be set during the reign of Henry VIII, but usually people dress as elves and wizards. So it's basically just a gathering of drunk people playing dress-up, you interested?" Lori asked, smiling.

"I don't have a costume." Kyle pointed out, but Lori just laughed.

"You don't have to have a costume, the costume wearing is more for the people who like to get drunk. Hence the costume." Lori smiled.

"I'd love to come, Josh are you going?" Kyle asked, but Josh was already smirking.

"No way. Those things are for nerds, and geeks, and morons. I hate them, and will never go to one again." He said simply, and walked away as Lori snickered.

"Why does he hate Renaissance Fairs so much?" Kyle asked, turning to her.

"When we were little, our parents took us to one and Josh went on the Viking's Crossing ride. It scared him so much he peed his pants, so now he won't go near one." Lori laughed.

Kyle smiled, and picked up his cellphone. He dialed Amanda's number, and waited for three rings before she answered.

"Good morning." She said tiredly.

"Amanda, I was wondering if you wanted to come to the Renaissance Festival with Lori and me today?" Kyle asked, his smile wide.

"I'd love to, what time are you leaving?" she said, slightly more awake now.

Kyle gave Lori a questioning look and she held up a two.

"At two." Kyle said with a grin.

"I'll be ready, you're not wearing a costume are you?" she asked.

"No." he laughed lightly.

"Alright, I'll be over as soon as I'm ready." She said with a laugh.

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Jessi stood idle, waiting and waiting for him to leave. Finally , Nate walked out of his room and down the hall. Jessi followed him, but took care that he didn't _know_ she was following him. He met up with Mark in the parking lot as Jessi listened in.

"You ready for this? A whole day of geeks and nerds." Nate said, smirking.

"A whole day of _frightening_ geeks and nerds, you mean. Yes, I'm ready. The armor is in the back." Mark said, an equal smirk on his face.

They got into the car and Jessi followed as they pulled out of the parking lot, and drove down the street. She took the wooded trail, and ran lightly. She kept pace with the car for nearly twelve miles before it stopped and she found her way back to the road which was now a new parking lot behind the fair grounds. A man in an archery costume walked towards them, removing his leather hood.

"You guys are almost late. The King is about to make his speech, and you have to crash it." The man said, shaking his head.

They opened the trunk and began to dress in black armor. They applied makeup and put on fake teeth and wigs. Finally, they were two equally frightening black knights, with sharp teeth and shiny armor that had the Latnok symbol enameled into the breastplate.

"You really went all out this year, guys." The archer smiled.

Nate pulled out a two-handed sword that looked legitimately dangerous as he hefted it into a sheath on his back. Mark withdrew a cape and threw it over his shoulders to cover up the black and out of place mechanism on his back. He closed the trunk and locked it, then proceeded towards the fair with the other two.

"You know, some of the stuff you guys rig up every year… it's like you really _are_ members of Da'Vinci's secret order of cultists trying to bring down the English government." The archer said, shaking his head.

"You don't date a lot, do you?" Nate asked with a smile.

Jessi followed them to the entrance and waited until they were out of sight until trying to enter and being stopped by a man in full knight armor, holding a halberd.

"Halt, who goes there?" he asked, raising his weapon defensively.

"I'm just going into the fair." She said, narrowing her eyes.

"Only members of the court may use this entrance, you must go around to the strangefolk entrance." The knight said.

Jessi approached him with a smile and asked, "Do you know how much a full suit of armor weighs? Your particular brand is actually jousting armor, and you went the extra mile and wore a full vest of chainmail underneath. Right now, you're walking with almost 150 extra pounds, not to mention that ridiculous halberd."

She jogged slowly past him as he yelled for assistance, and then she ducked into a dressing room. She stole a costume and put it on, ensuring it had a mask for her face, and then walked out, running into the knight outside.

"Oh, my lord, I apologize. Have you seen a strangefolk female around? She slipped past me." The knight said, kneeling.

"Yes, she scaled the wall and doubled around." Jessi smiled, pointing to the roof.

"Many thanks, my liege!" the knight cried, and wobbled around the building.

Jessi had inadvertently grabbed the French Ambassadors costume, which was lucky because unbeknownst to her it was the _only_ official costume with a mask. Suddenly, a large man clapped her on her black cape, the blow being absorbed by the black hard leather vest she wore underneath.

"Ambassador, come, it is time we make our way to the opening ceremony!" the man said, she saw his garb and recognized it as King Henry VIII.

Jessi nodded and began to walk away, but was stopped by the king, who handed her a rapier.

"I wouldn't forget your blade in times like these, Ambassador, even if you are peaceful." He said, smiling.

Jessi returned the smile and strapped on the belt, complete with sheath and sword. She walked two steps behind him as they headed for the opening ceremonies.

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Kyle, Amanda, Hillary and Lori pulled up to the parking lot, and exited the car. Hillary finished her costume, which consisted of a white shift under a dark green sea jerkin and tucked into a wide leather sash that held her pants that only went to her knees where her black, leather boots began. She wore a green bandanna around her head that held her golden hair back. She holstered a flint pistol and put her hands on her hips.

"What do you think?" she asked, smiling.

"It's awesome, Hills, but what are you supposed to be?" Lori asked, stifling a laugh.

"I'm Hillary Cashell, the youngest of Lord Cashell's daughters and a member of Grace O'Malley's pirate crew." Hillary said, raising her hands and pointing at her head.

"You really did a lot of research." Kyle said, smiling.

"If I'm going to be fabulous, I'm going to be fabulous while maintaining historical accuracy." Hillary said cheerfully.

"Was there really a Hillary Cashell?" Amanda asked as the group approached the gate.

"Hillary's root is Latin, not Gaelic, but if a family from Italy immigrated to Ireland before the 16th century, they could have mixed the origins resulting in a Hillary Cashell." Kyle explained.

"Or a Catholic English woman married into the Cashell family to build better English-Irish relations, combining the names to promote unity." Hillary said over her shoulder and Kyle smiled.

"You really _did_ do a lot of research." He pointed out.

They reached the gate and Kyle purchased four all-day passes, as they walked in trumpets blared around the fairgrounds.

"Hear ye, hear ye! His Royal Highness, King Henry VIII, wishes to welcome all citizens of the realm to the courtyard where he will give a formal greeting in five strikes of the clock!" a crier called from a roof above.

"Oh no, Lori, did you know today was the Single Day and Night of Misfortune?" Hillary asked with a pout.

"Dammit, no I didn't… I'm sorry guys." She said apologetically.

"What is that?" Kyle asked, as they made their way through the crowd.

"It's an all-day, all-night event where agents of the cult of Da'Vinci, usually there's two, attack the fair in these scripted events. It's cool if you like to watch it, but otherwise it can be really annoying, especially when they mess with the crowd. It usually culminates in them destroying a building or something, but also being defeated by the prince." Lori explained as they continued to walk.

"What prince? Henry VIII only had two sons, and they both died as teenagers." Kyle pointed out as they approached the courtyard where a wooden stage was set up.

"They never say. It's just The Prince." Lori shrugged.

Trumpets blared and Amanda jumped closer to Kyle, who smiled and wrapped his hand around her waist. A group of people streamed from the makeshift castle and onto the stage, all representing a different historical figure. Finally, the actor portraying Henry VIII came out, followed by none other than Declan and a slender figure in all black wearing a mask and feathered hat.

"Declan is playing The Prince?" Hillary gasped.

"No. Freaking. Way." Lori said doubtfully.

Kyle looked at Declan, he was wearing a blonde wing that gave him long, curled hair, and had a sheathed broadsword. Then Kyle's attention was drawn to the lithe figure in black wearing the mask, he had seen him somewhere before… but where…?

Kyle was so distracted he didn't notice the two, black armor-clad knights atop the castle wall who were preparing to assassinate the king.

"Welcome, my fair citizens and visitors! Enjoy this day of revelry, and merrymaking! In the name of England and The Church, I bid thee a good day!" The King cried, raising his glass as the crowd did the same.

Suddenly, one of the large knights landed, kneeling, onto the stage, splintering some of the wood. The crowd screamed, Amanda included.

"Those names die now!" The knight cried, and swung his two handed sword towards the King, who braced himself.

CLANG! Steel contacted steel as Declan stood between the knight and the King, his sword holding the Knights' in place.

"Father, run!" Declan cried, The King wobbled back inside the castle with the nobles, the last of which being the French Ambassador, who turned back in horror.

"Noble Prince, so brave, but so stupid." The knight hissed, and forced Declan to his knees.

The other black knight leapt down, again splintering the wood. The crowd leapt backwards, crying out in fear. The second knight whispered ominous words and fire erupted in his hand. He pointed it at Declan and smiled to reveal his sharpened teeth.

"Roast him like a hog on a spit!" the first knight laughed, grabbing Declan's head and yanking it back.

The crowd tensed as the fire drew closer to Declan's face, when suddenly guards stampeded out of the keep, their spears down, and surrounded the two.

"Guards? Blah! You would have guards!" The second knight cursed, spitting black liquid on the ground as his flames extinguished.

"You won't escape, surrender your weapons!" one of the guards said.

There was an awkward silence, and the actors' eyes shifted around, waiting. One of the guards nudged the one who had spoken.

"Ahem, I said, surrender your weapons!" he called loudly.

The crowd looked on in wonder as everyone was still, as if waiting for something. Inside the castle, the riggers were joking with each other and had missed their cue.

"Hey, they're giving the prompt!" someone hissed.

The riggers hurriedly pulled a lever and outside the stage collapsed in a puff of black smoke, making the crowd yell and shrink back. When the smoke cleared, Declan stood covered in soot, as did the guards, but the knights were gone. Declan stood, and wiped the ash from his face.

"Noble citizens, do not let this hinder your day of merriment! Be on the lookout for the knights, and alert a guard if they are seen, I will deal with them!" he cried, raising a fist into the air.

"Huzzah!" the crowd cried, repeating his gesture, as he walked inside with the guards.

"Well that was exciting." Kyle said with a smile.

"Yeah, and it will be the coolest thing until tonight. Until then there will be little shows where the knights will kill guards and scare kids and stuff… its obnoxious." Lori sighed, moving her hair from her eyes.

"They don't mess with you if you're in costume though." Hillary smiled, gesturing to her outfit.

"Uh oh." Amanda said, worriedly looking down at her normal clothing.

"Don't worry honey, they only kidnap two people every year… the chances that you'll be one of them is slim to none!" Hillary said optimistically.

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"Hey, Ambassador, thanks for leaving me hanging." Declan said backstage, wiping away the black powder on his face.

Jessi stopped, realized he was talking to her, and turned to face him.

"What?" she asked, throwing her voice much deeper than usual.

"The script? You were supposed to help me, we were both supposed to be captured." Declan said, shaking his head.

"Oh…" Jessi said, looking down.

"Yeah oh, you're lucky we covered you." One of the guards said, walking by.

Declan handed Jessi a small script, inside was the time and location of all the events.

"You're not really important again until just before the feast, where you are supposed to be talking to the cultists around the entrance. Then again at the Viking's Crossing conclusion event, where you are unmasked by me as the traitor, alright?" Declan asked.

"I…um…" Jessi stammered, but Declan clapped her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, man, you got this. I remember my first year volunteering at this thing. I was a squire. It sucked. At least you get to be The Ambassador." Declan smiled, and went back to cleaning himself up.

Jessi walked stiffly away, but gasped as she ran into Nate and Mark in full costume.

"Hey, what the hell was that?" Mark asked, still using his black knight voice.

"Sorry… choked." Jessi said lowly.

"Well don't choke before the feast, you're supposed to be the badass McDonough fights in the climax while we escape." Nate said intimidatingly.

"I'm good now." Jessi said, once more making her voice as low as she could.

"Fine. We've picked the two kidnappings, alright? Just make sure you're around the area." Mark said, flashing a pointy-tooth smile.

They handed Jessi a photo and walked off. Jessi looked down and saw the picture was of Hillary, Kyle, Lori and Amanda as they watched the first event.

"Uh oh." Jessi sighed.

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The day was going rather well until around 7:30. Kyle and Amanda reached the archery range, where she tried her luck at stringing a bow and firing at the twenty foot target, which she missed. Kyle smiled and shot the 100 foot with ease, winning her a small bear dressed in Robin Hood clothing. She smiled, he kissed her on the cheek, and they held hands as they proceeded towards the shops.

"Son, you need to come grab this." The vendor said, holding his receipt.

Kyle smiled and jogged over, and then paused as he saw the lithe figure of the French Ambassador looking at him from a window. As he fixated his gaze, he heard a scream and turned to see one of the black knights holding Amanda.

"AMANDA!" Kyle cried and started towards her, but they disappeared in a huge explosion of smoke.

"Guards, guards!" one of the vendors cried, running away.

Kyle stood, shocked, and began to search for clues as to where they might have gone. As he looked around, he noticed some cracks on the edge of the building above him. As soon as he started towards it, Declan came running up to him and his guards followed slowly.

"Kyle? What happened?" he asked.

"One of those cultists took Amanda." He said, looking around.

"Kyle that's just a part of the event, it's not anything malicious." Declan whispered, but went back into character as his guards approached.

"It seems we've just missed him again, and that he has taken a young maiden! Fear not citizens, we shall track down these dogs and bring them to justice!" Declan cried, clapped Kyle on the back, and ran off with his guards.

_It may just be part of the event, but I still let Amanda get captured. How could I say I would protect her if an actor at a carnival can abduct her so easily?_

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Nate lifted Amanda down into the cellar as she laughed. He set her down, and she straightened out her face.

"So, you just keep me in here until the finale?" she asked curiously.

"Silence! If you bring the guards down to us, you'll pay with more than your life!" Nate seethed.

"Wait a second… I've heard your voice before." Amanda said, her fun gone and replaced with alarm.

"Just relax lady, you'll be back out there in under an hour if you're cooperative." Someone said from behind her.

Jessi walked out of the shadows, still wearing the French Ambassadors outfit. She turned towards Nate and nodded, he picked Amanda up and slung her over his shoulder.

"Wait, what are you doing to me?" she asked fearfully.

"Chill, you'll be fine. It's all part of the show." Jessi said, still using her low and unrecognizable voice.

They went up and out of the cellar to a tunnel in the buildings that led outside to the trees. As Nate pulled out leather bindings, Jessi watched Amanda intently.

"What are you even here for?" Amanda asked, a small amount of anger seeping into her voice.

"Would you rather I leave you alone with that?" Jessi asked darkly, gesturing to Nate who smiled with his viciously sharp teeth.

Amanda shuddered and shook her head as Mark approached, equally unrecognizable under his armor. He dropped Lori down to the log, her hands were already tied with a linen wrap.

"Amanda?" she asked.

"Lori, they got you too?" she asked solemnly.

"Yeah… aww, the Ambassador is the traitor this year? They've done that a zillion times." Lori said, exasperatedly.

"Do we have a gag?" Jessi asked Mark, who laughed a very evil laugh.

"Who is that? You're skinny." Lori said snidely, sticking her tongue out at Jessi.

"Jealousy is an ugly trait, how much longer?" Jessi asked Nate while Lori gasped.

"I am _not_ jealous of you, skinny boy." Lori sneered.

"As soon as everyone is in for the feast, we can begin to lash them up." Mark said.

"Lash us up where?" Amanda asked, again with fear.

"The Viking's Crossing. It's going 'boom' this year, and you have front row seats." Nate said maniacally.

Lori and Amanda exchanged worried glances.

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Kyle attended the feast, but didn't eat anything despite Hillary trying to make him.

"Come on, Kyle… it's _cool_ that they were chosen. Now Declan gets to save them… it will be very heroic." She smiled, wiping her chin with a napkin.

"I'm just worried, what if something goes wrong and one of them is hurt?" he asked her.

"This festival has been going on since forever, I've never heard of them having an accident on the Single Day and Night of Misfortune. It will be fine." Hillary said, patting his hand.

Kyle just looked around with concern, leading Hillary to roll her eyes.

"Kyle, relax, in about four minutes the conclusion will start and you'll see that there is nothing at all to worry about." Hillary said, drinking the last bit of beer she could.

An explosion rocked the walls, and the king cried out.

"All citizens, evacuate! Make for the square in an orderly fashion!" the crier yelled from the rafters.

Everyone evacuated calmly, some even laughing with nervousness to see which attraction would not return the next year, and they saw the two cultists standing on a roof across from the Vikings Crossing, which had two female figures sitting in it.

Kyle jogged over ahead of everyone else, leading the cultists to laugh at him as the ride started. It was a large replica Viking boat that swung back and forth, going further each time until it was nearly completely horizontal. Declan and the guards came from the opposite direction as the crowd formed eagerly.

"So Prince, your eagerness has led you astray!" Nate called, leaping from the building onto the ground.

This time, Kyle was paying attention and he saw the wire retract.

"Release them, the citizens have nothing to do with it!" Declan said with surprisingly good ferocity as he drew his sword.

Nate drew his two-handed sword as well, as the wooden platform below the ride was engulfed in flame. Amanda screamed as fire licked the sides of the ride. Mark leapt down as well, but he was out of character now as the bottom of the boat caught fire. He tore off his helmet and ran to the hidden control box, and began to shut off the ride.

"What happened?" Declan yelled, his character gone.

"The retracting harnesses didn't work, Amanda and Lori are stuck up there!" Mark exclaimed.

"Well shut it off man!" Declan yelled.

"No! If you shut it off, they'll burn to death. Right now it's the motion that is sparing them, but we need to get them off." Kyle said, as he assessed the ride.

He began to climb the side pole, but Declan pulled him off.

"What is wrong with you?" Kyle asked angrily.

"Kyle, it's just you and I back here, but as soon as you break this tree you'll be seen by over 200 people leaping into a fire." Declan pointed out as Mark ran to call for help.

Amanda and Lori's screams intensified as Kyle felt useless, and the crowd looked on in horror as they realized something had gone wrong.

"We have to put out the fire!" Declan cried.

"No, it's impossible. That fire was meant to continue, it can't be put out. That's the way we designed it." Nate said, also taking off his helmet.

"So what do we do?" Declan exclaimed in fear, as Lori began to scream also.

The silence that followed was all the answer anyone needed. There was nothing that could be done. Suddenly, a real arrow struck the beam holding the ride. Attached to it was a black wire, the same one Mark and Nate had been using to retract themselves from places quickly, and down this wire Jessi, in her French Ambassador costume, slid.

Everyone cheered as she reached the beam and pulled out the arrow, then leapt down into the fiery ship and grabbed Amanda and Lori. She untied them, and connected the working extract wire to their vests, then clicked the mechanism. They were lifted out of the ride and onto the ground towards the building where Declan and Kyle caught them, earning another cheer from the crowd.

The costume caught fire as Jessi leapt from the boat, fell twenty feet, and disappeared into the pond.

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"How are you feeling?" Kyle asked, as Amanda rubbed her bandages.

"Minor scrapes and bruises… I'm lucky I wasn't burnt." She said with a slight smile.

They were standing by the ambulance, waiting for her mother to pick her up. Kyle looked at her with guilt, and she touched the side of his face.

"It's not your fault, there was nothing even you could have done." She said warmly.

"I would have found a way. I don't care if my secret gets out, I would have saved you." Kyle admitted as Mrs. Bloom walked up.

"If this sort of thing happens every time you two have a date then there will be no more dates." She said briskly, and grabbed Amanda by her shoulders.

They walked away and Kyle stepped over to Lori, who had less bandages than Amanda, but was equally shaken.

"That was so not fun." She sighed, Hillary pouted her lip.

"I'm sorry…" Kyle began but Lori cut him off.

"Nope. You don't get to apologize, it was my fault for coming today. Let's go home, I want to go to bed." She grumbled.

Kyle just nodded and smiled, following the two to the car.

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Nicole was sitting in the living room reading a book when she heard the door open. She saw Jessi walk in wearing horribly burnt clothing that wasn't hers.

"Jessi?" she cried, and leapt up, Jessi stopped and looked at her.

"I'm sorry, I know you told me not to interfere." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Jessi, what happened?" Nicole asked.

Jessi sighed and said, "There was a technical malfunction and I had to intervene. Other than that, not a lot. Can I go take a shower? I don't want everyone to know that it was me."

"That _what_ was you?" Nicole asked.

Jessi ignored her and went to her room, grabbed a towel, and walked upstairs. Nicole turned on the TV, wide-eyed, and sure enough the news came straight on to the Renaissance Festival.

"…is seen sliding on a wire onto the ride, jumping down, securing the passengers, and then sending them back out. No word yet on the condition of the masked hero, or their whereabouts. Police have sent out a request, if you have any information regarding this individual please contact the nearest police station." The voice said over an amateur video of the events.

Nicole's mouth fell open slightly as she was reminded of what Kyle had done at the bonfire the previous year. She walked upstairs as Jessi exited the shower, wet and covered by a towel.

"Jessi…" Nicole said, tearing up, and she hugged her.

Jessi widened her eyes and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, and then raised an eyebrow.

"Nicole? You don't have to hug me." She said, and Nicole withdrew.

"I'm sorry, I know you're not used to physically expressing emotions…" she said, wiping under her eyes.

"Not unless it's anger, not really." Jessi said simply, and walked by her.

_As I lay down to sleep, my mind reeled with new discoveries. First, I now had a need to find a way to make myself unnoticed so I didn't have to worry about someone discovering my secret and I could still protect the people I loved. Second, Jessi, even with all of her anger at me, had saved Amanda and Lori but hadn't wanted to take credit. The air had indeed ignited, but in the end it was Jessi, not myself, who stayed calm and found a way through it._

_I felt like I owed her for that._

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Kyle XY, Season Four. Every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST.


	7. Episode Seven: The Tension Stairway

Four

A Kyle XY FanFiction

By: AMysteriousAuthor

**Underlined italics represent Kyle's narration.**

**Bold italics represent Jessi's narration.**

**A/N: I lied. It's been a little over a year since the last episode, I don't know how many of you are affected by my desertion but I'm going to apologize anyway. The last Author's Note was very inaccurate, as this half of Season 4 will only have ten episodes, all of which have been written and will be published weekly. **

**I am in no official way associated with Kyle XY. **

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Episode Seven: The Tension Stairway

The edges of Kyle's sight were blurred, as if there was a fog framing his eyes. He stood in an abandoned warehouse that he recognized as once being the hiding place for hundreds of pods similar to the one he had lived in for most of his life. He took a small step, but hardly noticed the impact on the concrete floor beneath.

"Kyle!" Amanda cried from behind him.

He turned around and saw Jessi, eyes shining, standing with her hands on Amanda's shoulders. Amanda sat, bound with chains, to an aluminum chair. Her face was bruised, her lip split, and a ragged cut ran from the top of her forehead to her eye. Kyle tried to speak, but no sound could be mustered. He was mute.

"You chose wrong, Kyle… you should have picked me!" Jessi hissed, fire spreading from her hands onto Amanda's skin.

Amanda screamed, and Kyle launched a devastating force at Jessi, who knocked it away with a mere glance. She turned her attention fully back to Kyle, her eyes still shining, and smiled widely.

"You haven't progressed. You're so focused on mindless young adult drama that you've forgotten to keep _pushing_ yourself. I haven't, and my body is stronger than my mind now." Jessi explained as her small fires grew, covering Amanda's shoulders.

Kyle tried to yell, tried to beg, but it was as though his vocal chords had been severed. All he could do was watch as Amanda slowly burned alive, Jessi smiling cruelly at him the entire time. Finally, Amanda was no more than a charred skeleton, which Jessi promptly shattered into countless pieces. She walked over to him, and the very air began to smolder.

"Now for my next trick, the apocalypse." Jessi laughed lightly.

Suddenly Kyle's view was transported thousands of miles above Earth's atmosphere, into the cold blackness of space. He watched as the planet instantaneously became a giant fireball, which extinguished just as quickly, leaving behind a smoldering and ruined world.

Kyle cried out in fear as he leapt up, and out of his tub drenched in sweat.

_I looked around, but it had only been a dream. Still, things were not settled. I still needed to work on my own to develop the necessary skills to ensure my family's continued safety. I also needed to watch Jessi, because even though she claimed to be alright I knew now that she was not._

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Kyle walked into the kitchen, smiling at the repetition. Once more, only Jessi awaited him being the only one that woke up as early as he did. He felt a familiar pressure between them as she pointedly looked away.

"Good morning." He said with a half-smile.

Jessi sighed and looked at him impatiently asking, "What did I do now Kyle?"

"What?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"You wake up screaming, and the first thing you do is come in here and give me your 'I'm worried about something' look." Jessi said, putting down the magazine she was holding.

Kyle paused while collecting his thoughts and Jessi stood up and walked closer to him, but while still maintaining a healthy distance.

"Kyle, I'm not doing anything wrong, so don't be paranoid." Jessi warned, and walked past him.

"Jessi, wait!" he called and turned around.

"What?" she asked, stopping and turning back.

"What are you doing today?" he asked, Jessi just smiled.

"Now you want to 'hang out' with me? Kyle, no offense but don't be stupid. Just because I'm not actively attempting to destroy your relationship, doesn't mean I'm happy with it." She said coldly, walking away.

Kyle stood sadly as Jessi walked out the door, allowing it to slam slightly as Lori began to walk down the stairs.

"_That_ may have been the worst attempt at reconciliation I've ever witnessed, possibly second only to me trying to make up with Hillary last year." She said, looking sideways at him.

"I don't understand what I can do." Kyle said mournfully.

"You could talk to mom, she's good at that sort of stuff." Lori suggested, grabbing a cup.

"Maybe I will." Kyle said sadly, still watching the door.

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Jessi caught up with Nate with the same silent pattern she had created earlier that week. This time he was alone, and headed downtown in his SUV. It was almost difficult for her to catch up to his vehicle as it was on main roads, instead of back roads as had been the case the last time she had tried. He pulled into an empty parking lot in one of the worst parts of the city, Jessi followed through an abandoned building.

Nate got out and walked across the lot, shouldering a backpack that was obviously stuffed with papers. Jessi followed around and switched to an adjacent building, climbing up to the rafters for a better look. She observed Nate push his hair back and walk over to Cassidy, who was setting up a chair in the center of the complex. Jessi attuned her hearing so that she was listening in on the conversation clearly.

"So this is where we'll be taking Amanda?" Nate asked, setting the bag down.

"No, this is the place we'll be bringing Jessi. Amanda goes to site B, and she'll stay there until it's over, then we get rid of her." Cassidy said.

"Wait, get rid of her…?" Nate asked confusedly, tilting his head.

"That girl, as sad as it may be, has been in the middle of all of this for too long, it's time to stop pretending she can continue on once it's over." Cassidy said honestly, ruffling through the bag.

"Alright, so what about Kyle?" Nate asked, earning a smirk from Cassidy.

"We don't need to worry about trying to get Kyle, he won't be part of the picture very much longer." Cassidy told him simply.

"What do you mean by that?" Nate asked.

"We just have to make them _think _we have Kyle, the rest will take care of itself." Cassidy explained.

"That makes sense, I guess, and what happens to Jessi when we hand her over to… you know, _them_?" Nate asked.

Cassidy cleared his throat and Nate rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I get it… mind my own business. Roger. Oh, the party is going to be at Lancing Park." Nate said, heading out.

"Oh, and Nate? From now on, no more visits. Just make your preparations and let it be finished." Cassidy said, turning slightly.

"You sound a little down there, chief." Nate pointed out.

"You would be as well." Cassidy said simply.

With that, the conversation ended and Nate exited the warehouse. Jessi frowned at the lack of information the trip had yielded but left anyway. For now, she decided stealth was the best route to take.

_**Although I wasn't completely clear how, or why, I knew that Amanda and Kyle were both in danger. As loathe as I was to admit it, Kyle had to be warned so that he could protect them both.**_

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Kyle sat across from Nicole in the living room, looking sideways anxiously. She smiled at him warmly and nodded slightly.

"Kyle, you wanted to talk about something." She prompted.

"Yes… I want to know what I should do about Jessi. I think she may be dangerous… and I don't want to Amanda to be put in danger." Kyle admitted

"The situation with Jessi is and has always been complicated, Kyle, but I don't think she has any intention of hurting you or Amanda." Nicole said.

"I wish I felt that way, but I had a dream that felt so real and vivid that I can't seem to get it off my mind." Kyle said sadly, looking away.

"What happened, in the dream?" Nicole asked, leaning forward.

Kyle sighed as he debated whether or not to tell Nicole what happened. She sensed his hesitation and sighed lightly.

"Kyle, sometimes it helps to discuss things that are making you anxious, even if you think it will be hard for me to hear." She said softly, leaning towards him.

"Jessi had Amanda confined to a chair in a warehouse. Her eyes were shining, and she told me I was wrong to choose Amanda… and then she created a fire in her hand and singed Amanda's shoulder." Kyle said, eyes widening.

Nicole looked down in thought and then looked back up.

"Kyle, do you think your dream could be trying to tell you that _you're_ wondering about choosing Amanda?" Nicole asked, Kyle looked at her anxiously.

"No. I love Amanda and I'm happy with my choice, but I want Jessi to be happy as well." He said, frowning.

"And you're worried that the only way she'll be happy is if she's with you?" Nicole asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I'm worried that she's going to let her emotional attachment to me affect her judgment." Kyle admitted.

As they continued their conversation in the house, Jessi's eyes began to water as she stood outside the front door.

"Jessi?" Josh asked from behind her, she turned to him wiping her eyes.

"What?" she asked with half of a sob.

"Um… are you okay?" Josh asked with genuine concern.

Jessi frowned at him as her eyes watered again. She wiped them, and narrowed her eyes defiantly.

"I'm fine." Jessi said sternly, looking away.

"Are you sure… because you seem kind of… crying." Josh said timidly, reaching out a hand.

Jessi swatted it away and scowled at him, her top teeth showing slightly.

"I'm fine, Josh, I don't need you to act nice." She said stiffly.

"Hey, I'm trying here, alright? You don't always have to push everyone away, Jessi." He said irritated, and walked inside shaking his head.

Jessi followed him, wiping her face. Kyle looked at her hopefully, but she just rolled her eyes and stomped away. Kyle sighed and stood up, then followed her to her room and knocked on the door.

"As if you can't hear me anyway." Jessi growled, opening her door.

"Jessi, I wanted to talk about…"

"About your dream of me burning precious Amanda to a crisp with fire that I conjured with my glowing eyes?" she said snidely, grabbing her journal.

Kyle took a step back with wide eyes, mouth falling slightly agape.

"Yeah, you're a miserable secret-keeper." She said pointedly opening her journal and beginning to write.

"I just thought that…"

"What? That I'm secretly hoping that I get a chance to barbeque your girlfriend?" Jessi asked sarcastically.

"That you might be a little… unstable?" he tested a word, but found the result was most negative.

"Unstable?" Jessi asked flatly, her eyebrow raising.

She closed her book and set it aside, then stood up and straightened out her shirt. Kyle heard a hiss from behind him, and turned to see Josh on the stairs, wide-eyed, gesturing for him to run. Confused, Kyle turned around and saw Jessi's face had contorted to one of complete and utter fury.

"I'm not unstable just because you have strange nightmares, Kyle, and maybe if you weren't so preoccupied with getting close to precious Amanda you would see how much danger there is all the time, surrounding the two of you! You've put all of your focus into her and you've forgotten that Latnok is still out there, that _Cassidy _is still out there, and if you're distracted then how are supposed to protect her?" Jessi yelled, her voice carrying through the house.

"I don't have to be constantly showing off to retain my ability to protect the people I love, Jessi!" Kyle said loudly, with slight annoyance.

"Oh, right, because you leapt so gallantly into action at the festival!" Jessi cried.

Kyle did a double take, and Jessi advanced.

"You didn't, Kyle, you didn't and I did. I saved Lori and your beloved little Amanda, and I didn't have to! Now do you get it? If I wanted her burnt up, I would've have just left her on that ride! So why don't you take your assumptions, and your inadequacies, and get the hell out of my room!" Jessi cried and shoved him outside the door, slamming it in his face.

"Damn." Josh said simply, and walked away.

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"Jessi, I'm glad you called. How are you?" Brian said into his phone.

"Not great… I wanted to… apologize, for the way I left last time we spoke. I didn't mean to make it seem like I was angry." Jessi said, biting her lower lip.

"I appreciate your apology. I want to offer one as well, for making it seem like I didn't care about Sarah. I just wanted you to be able to move on." Brian said.

"I just wanted… to ask you, if you would consider legally changing my records, to make me a year older." She asked, closing her eyes.

Brian paused for a moment in surprise, as Cassidy sat in the corner sorting through the flood of decisions his mind was going through.

"I don't see how that would be a problem. We'll give you an approximate date of birth, and then just subtract a year." Brian said, finally.

"Thank you, Brian. When will they be done, do you think?" Jessi asked.

"In a little over a week, is that okay?" Brian asked cautiously, as Cassidy got an idea.

"Time and place?" Jessi wondered.

"Across the hall from your old apartment, say… nine days?" Brian asked.

Jessi nodded, that was the night of the party Josh had asked her about in Lancing Park, the same party Nate had told Cassidy about. This was confirmation that, somehow, Cassidy was in control of Brian. She couldn't just accept that Brian was a willing pawn. She knew she had to try one last thing.

"Thank you dad, I love you." She said, allowing happiness to flood her voice.

After a pause, Cassidy had Brian respond with, "I love you too, Jessi, nine days."

He hung up and Jessi closed her eyes and sighed, Cassidy was _controlling_ Brian somehow.

Cassidy smirked and let Brian speak unfiltered, as he stood.

"A child should always be aware of how much their parents care." Cassidy said, slightly distantly.

"So in your case, not at all?" Brian smirked, as his hands continued doing pointless tasks.

Cassidy sneered and turned on the filter again, then pulled out his shock device.

"Taylor, regardless of what you think about my history, I would watch your mouth unless you want start doing horrible, horrible things." Cassidy snarled, then put his device away.

Brian involuntarily gagged slightly.

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Kyle sat in his tub, deep in thought.

_Now, Jessi was angrier with me than she had ever been in the past and I deserved it. I thought about what she said, and she was correct. I did not save Amanda, and she could have died because of my inabilities. _

Jessi poked her head in the door and knocked lightly. Kyle looked up hopefully, and then down just as quickly. She rolled her eyes and walked in, putting her hands in her pockets.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." She sighed, looking sideways.

"You care about me, Jessi, and I care about you. You wouldn't have been so angry if you weren't trying something else." Kyle pointed out sadly.

Jessi sighed and sat down, rolling close to the tub.

"I ran into Cassidy a few days ago. Since then, I've been kind of… following him. He's planning something, something to do with me, you, and Amanda." She said.

"What? When?" Kyle asked, viciously standing.

"I don't know what, but I know somehow I'm supposed to end up in a warehouse near the place Latnok took Amanda after prom. You're supposed to, for some reason, not be taken but to willingly go after Amanda to 'site B'. I know Nate is involved, and that Cassidy has… _control_ over Brian." She explained, looking guilty.

"Do you know _when_?" Kyle asked with concern.

"Nine days from now, at the party Josh was talking about."

"The EOSRTH party, at Lancing Park?" Kyle asked.

"Yes, and Cassidy knows where it's going to be now." Jessi said, looking at Kyle with something like pity.

He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, and then looked up at her with a twitch.

"That means we have nine days to get ready." he said seriously.

Jessi thought for a moment as well, and then looked back up to him.

"I'll help, but only as long as you promise me that I get Cassidy." She said seriously.

"Jessi…"

"Kyle, he killed my mother and he's taken control of my father. I get Cassidy." She reiterated.

"No. We're not that way, Jessi, no matter what, we can't allow ourselves to stoop to their level." Kyle said, looking her in the eye.

"I'm not going to _kill_ him, Kyle, no matter what he is… no matter what he's done, he's still your half-brother." Jessi said with an eye roll.

Kyle sighed, licked his lips, and said, "Cassidy, regardless of his family, is a person. That means his life matters, and we don't get to decide to take it away."

"I didn't mean I wasn't going to kill him _just _because he's your brother." Jessi said angrily, rolling her eyes.

"We have nine days to practice our abilities, and I need work on one in particular." He said, looking at her with saddened eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jessi asked, eyebrow raised.

"I need to work on probing minds. If there are no options left, I can break Cassidy's mind like I…" Kyle trailed off.

"Like you did to _me_, I remember. You may want to tell… Amanda, so our trying to help _her_, doesn't make her leave you… again." Jessi said, narrowing her eyes impatiently.

"Let's get started then." Kyle said, smiling.

"Yes… let's." Jessi said, smiling.

"First things first: We need to create a way that I can practice my mind probing ability safely, _without_ hurting you." Kyle said seriously.

"I think I might have an idea." Jessi smiled.

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-LINE BREAK-

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Cassidy and Nate stood in a darkened warehouse, fidgeting slightly. Nate checked his watch and Cassidy sighed at his impatience when a door behind them opened. A man walked inside, wearing a completely black suit with white threads for seams. He wore black leather gloves, and had a mask that conformed perfectly to his face, making it appear black as well. Around his chin there was a metal mask that centered on a circle with small holes in a triangle. He strode over to them and looked around, as he did Cassidy noticed a glowing 'Two' on his left shoulder.

"Sir, Mister Two, I'm honored that you could come." Cassidy said nervously.

"Silence, Cassidy. You, what do you have to do with this?" Two asked in the same metallic voice, pointing quickly at Nate, who flinched slightly.

"I, uh, help out. You know, gather info… since Cassidy is supposed to be out of state." Nate responded.

"781228 is now aware of the plan?" Two asked, walking slowly around them.

"Yes, she… _it_ followed Nate to where Amanda will end up and listened in on the plan, according to your instructions sir." Cassidy said, licking his lips anxiously.

"Then it can be inferred they will begin to train themselves to face you, to take you down so they can live in peace." Two stated, continuing to walk around them.

"Why wouldn't they just avoid the party?" Nate asked, causing Two to stop and turn towards him.

"They are both emotionally compromised. They believe they possess the upper hand, and wish to rid themselves of Cassidy in the hopes of leading normal lives." Two explained, looking at the ground below Nate.

"But how do we get them here if their guard is up?" Nate asked snidely.

Two stepped towards him rapidly and threw him to the ground with one hand, then stepped on his throat.

"They are over-confident in their abilities. They will not expect to fail to defend Amanda Bloom, and once they do they will become confused and worried." He informed him and allowed him to stand.

Nate grabbed his windpipe and coughed, his eyes watering slightly from the pain.

"781227 and 781228 have the same weakness as every other creature in the world with an upper hand on those around them." Two said.

"What weakness is that, sir?" Cassidy asked, touching Nate's shoulder.

"The belief that they cannot be matched by another, their arrogance." Two said, walking away slightly.

He walked about ten yard towards the door, stopped, and turned back to them.

"I will handle the subjects, they will not come between you and Bloom. Once they are in pursuit, you will split them up. Use identical vehicles, make sure they see you separate and makes sure there is no difference between the vehicles, weight included. Factor in Bloom's weight, otherwise they will know." He said simply, and then proceeded to walk away.

"Sir, wait… what if they slip past you?" Cassidy asked and Two stopped.

"If they are able to best me, then you will simply speed up the process. You will consider checking in on the training, unnoticed of course, to better prepare for their response." He said, and then left the warehouse.

Nate stood up and took a few deep breaths, then turned to Cassidy with wide eyes.

"What the hell was that?" he asked softly.

"That was Two, the second of the Szokeveny." Cassidy said, his lower lip shaking slightly.

"What does that mean?" Nate asked.

"Deserter. They were part of the reformation of Latnok that created Adam Baylin in the beginning." Cassidy said, breathing deeply.

"That thing was not a human. It weighed less than you and put me down with no effort at all." Nate exclaimed, Cassidy shushed him.

"All three are very human, but they also have exclusive access to all projects Latnok was responsible for between the years of 1947 to 1982, when Baylin attracted their interest. 35 years of research and technological development at their disposal, you really think they aren't capable of putting a kid on his back?" Cassidy asked seriously.

"They don't like Latnok very much, do they?" Nate guessed.

"They believe that the spiritual aspects of Latnok are ridiculous, and believed it better to retire quietly than follow the ramblings of Baylin who was, in their words, 'a lunatic who has discovered the secret of life, much like the Victor Frankenstein in the famous novel'." Cassidy sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Sounds harsh. How old were they back in 47?" Nate wondered.

"Probably 20 or so… stop asking questions, let's just get done with our setup." Cassidy suggested.

"There is no damn way that guy was 80 years old." Nate pointed out, setting up some barrels.

"You have no idea." Cassidy shuddered.

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-LINE BREAK-

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Kyle XY, Season Four. Every Wednesday.


	8. Episode Eight: The Ghost of Before

Four

A Kyle XY FanFiction

By: AMysteriousAuthor

**Underlined italics represent Kyle's narration.**

**Bold italics represent Jessi's narration.**

**A/N: Well it's good to be back! After this, we only have two more chapters until the end.**

**I am in no official way associated with Kyle XY. **

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-LINE BREAK-

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Episode Eight: The Ghost of Before

_Training. The action of teaching a person or animal a particular skill or type of behavior. Jessi was used to rigorous self-training but I had always had Foss around to teach me. Foss. What I wouldn't give to have him around now, to help us. We agreed to tell Lori, Josh, Declan and Amanda at the same time, but also to warn them not to attempt to help. Cassidy was not Ballantine, and there was far too much danger for them to be involved._

"So we're preparing to train, to get ready for the party, and we're going to strike back when Cassidy makes his move." Kyle finished, looking upon their faces.

They were all silent for a moment, before Declan narrowed his eyes slightly and took a deep breath.

"You don't think going head to head with Cassidy is a little… dumb? After what he did to Sarah?" he asked seriously.

"We know the risks, but I would rather face him with a plan then wait for him to strike first." Kyle said, pacing slightly.

"What if it's not just him?" Amanda asked, Jessi rolled her eyes.

"You're in on the truth now, don't you think we're capable of taking care of ourselves?" she asked.

"If it's more than just him, don't you think worry is understandable?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Understandable, but unnecessary. Kyle and I are more than capable of beating more than one adversary." Jessi pointed out, leaning against the bookcase.

"So… what can we do to help?" Josh asked interestedly.

Kyle and Jessi exchanged a look.

"There's nothing you can do, other than act normally. Aside from Amanda, I need you to not resist when they try to capture you." Kyle said to her, sadly.

"What? Why?" Amanda asked with surprise.

"It will confuse them if you seem ready for it." Jessi explained.

"See, now you're saying 'they' as in _multiple_ people, who else is in on this?" Lori asked.

"Nate for sure, but there may be others we don't know about." Kyle said, truthfully.

"So what's the game plan?" Josh asked, raising an eyebrow.

"First we have to train. The key is that we can't let Stephen or Nicole realize what's going on, _or_ notice we're missing while were training." Jessi said.

"And that's why you need us in on it. To run interference while you train?" Declan asked.

"We wanted to give all of you an opportunity to help, even if not on the actual night itself." Kyle said, slightly frowning and glancing at Jessi.

"We also didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about what we're doing." Jessi said, rolling her eyes and sighing.

"I think I actually might be able to help, beyond just running parental interference." Declan said while standing, his eyes widening.

"How?" Kyle asked with surprise.

"You'll see, if it works I mean." Declan said with excitement, and walked out of the house.

The five teenagers looked at the ground, and then at each other.

"Today Jessi and I have to go to Adam Baylin's old house, Lori and Josh we need you to stay here and cover for us." Kyle said apologetically.

"Can I come with you?" Amanda asked, Jessi glared at her.

"You'll be bored. We're going to start constructing a prototype device, there's no guarantee it will be a success." Kyle said honestly.

"I would still like to come, if it's not a problem." Amanda said pointedly.

"Alright, just clear it with your mother first. I don't want you to get into trouble." Kyle said.

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-LINE BREAK-

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The car ride to Baylin's house was awkward to say the least. Kyle drove Josh's car, and Amanda sat in the passenger's seat while Jessi lounged in the back. Kyle wasn't sure how much would be left in the house, but he was hoping that at least a small_ trace_ of Baylin was still there, that he could use to develop the idea that Jessi and he had about practicing his mental spikes. They pulled through the gate, and immediately Kyle's hopes dispersed as he saw the front door was wide open. Anything that had once been there, was long gone by now. Still, Kyle narrowed his eyes and drove to the front door and stopped the car. He turned it off as Amanda and Jessi both got out.

They all walked through the front door, and frowned at the state of the house. Small pieces of paper were scattered across the floor, but other than that the house was relatively empty.

"What were you hoping to find?" Amanda asked.

Jessi rolled her eyes and set off through the house to search, Kyle just stood in sadness at the dark gloom of the empty building. Once, a great man had lived here and he had almost lost his life on the sunrooms patio. Kyle walked upstairs to that very room, and looked around. All of the plants were dead, but in the center still stood a table with a glass of water atop it, collecting dust.

"Adam…" Kyle said, smiling as his eyes watered.

He reached out his hand to the glass, and moved it with his mind. As he moved it, the table clicked and the wall beside Kyle opened up to reveal a whole new wing of the house he had never seen before.

"Jessi, Amanda… I found something." He called.

He stood before the newfound hallway as Jessi and Amanda walked in behind him, excited expressions dressing their faces. The three teens walked down the hall which had only one door at the very end of it. There was a handle on each side of the steel door, which was so wide that no one person could pull both handles at the same time. Kyle tried to move one as Jessi pushed the other but nothing happened.

"We have to use our minds." Kyle told her, Jessi nodded.

They both concentrated and the handles traveled towards each other, connecting and then traveling upwards. They clicked into place at the top of the door and it separated into two halves, opening towards them. The room behind the door was a simple desk with a computer monitor atop it, and computer towers covering the back wall. As they walked in, everything powered up and a soft purple light covered the room. It reminded Kyle of the Latnok safe house that Baylin had recovered from his gunshot in. Suddenly the monitor flickered on, and they were greeted by a video of Adam himself.

"Hello Kyle." Adam said through the screen.

Kyle's eyes widened, and he slowly smiled.

"Adam…" Kyle said.

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-LINE BREAK-

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Stephen walked out of his office with a sigh. He was a professor at a university, he thought he should be entitled to more than a half hour lunch break. As he walked down the hall, Mark caught up to him with a, "Mr. Trager!"

"Mark, you have really bad timing." Stephen rolled his eyes, not slowing down.

"I just wanted to ask you…"

"No, Mark, no. The answer is _no._ Not Lori, or Kyle, or Josh, or Jessi will have anything to do with Latnok or members of Latnok. That means you, and your boss." Stephen said, turning to Mark.

"Come on, Stephen, whatever Cassidy did… you have to know I wasn't a part of it!" he insisted, but Stephen advanced and put a finger in his face.

"Stay away from my family, Mark!" he said quietly, and then turned away.

"No." Mark said suddenly, Stephen turned around.

"What did you just…"

"I said no, Stephen. Listen, I really like Lori… and Kyle is one of my real friends. I'm not going to 'stay away' just because you say so. I'll always look for a way back into your trust, but honestly I should never have been taken out of it. I haven't done anything wrong, and you know it!" Mark said vehemently, exhaling.

The two men stood there for a moment in surprise, before Stephen put his hand to his face.

"No… you haven't. But you're still a part of Latnok, and that means I can't trust you." Stephen said sadly, and walked away.

Mark stood with his head down, and then gritted his teeth, and ran off towards the Faculty of Science building. He walked swiftly down to Latnok's headquarters, and barged into Brian Taylor's office.

"I quit." He said, breathing heavily.

Brian smiled, and looked up at him. He placed his papers on the desk and put his hands under his chin.

"You… quit?" he asked.

"Latnok. I quit Latnok, I'm done." Mark said sternly, still catching his breath.

"Mark… Latnok is a select group of students. It's not a job, you can't _quit._" Brian pointed out.

"Then I leave, I…I… I'm not a part of it anymore." Mark said flatly.

"Why?" Brian asked, leaning back.

"Because being a part of it is making me lose the only person I care about." Mark said seriously.

"Ah, so it's about a girl huh? Let me guess: Lori Trager's father won't let you see her, because he thinks Cassidy is evil and doesn't accept that Latnok had nothing to do with it?" Brian asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"How do you know all of that..?" Mark asked confusedly.

"Would it shock you if I said I was Jessi's father?" Brian asked, Mark's eyebrows rose.

"Yes… um, yes it would actually. None of it matters, though, I still want nothing to do with Latnok ever again." Mark said.

"Okay." Brian said with a smile, and began to sort through his papers.

"Okay…?" Mark asked skeptically.

"Okay. Tell Stephen Trager that you are no longer associated with Latnok, and bring me your hard drive with all of your Latnok-related projects. Just remember that you're welcome here any time." Brian said with a shrug, and began to type on his computer.

"Do you mean that…?" Mark asked.

"Yes, I mean that. Bring me the hard drive by 4:00, alright?" Brian asked, with a half-smile.

"I can get it here in under an hour, Mr. Taylor, thank you!" Mark said, relieved.

Mark raced out of the room, and Nate walked in with the tablet, and turned off the filter to Brian's mouth so he could speak freely.

"Ugh… what, Cassidy too busy to come play with his toy?" Brian asked snidely.

"Actually he's setting up transportation for this little coup we have planned." Nate said with a sigh.

"What are you getting out of this 'little coup' anyway?" Brian asked irritably.

"Hmm… well, my dad is on the Latnok board and he's like the rest of them… completely obsessed with Kyle." Nate rolled his eyes.

"So that's what you and Cassidy have in common… parent problems." Brian sighed.

"Jessi could join our club, her parent situation meets the requirements. Besides, once we hand them both over to the Szokeveny, it'll be over." Nate said with arrogance.

"The… Szokeveny? Cassidy did _not _involve those psychopaths!" Brian cried with concern.

"Yep. It's the only way we can even the odds against them, if you know what I mean." Nate said, tapping his head.

"You have no idea what those men will do!" Brian said viciously.

"I don't really care. Once Kyle and Jessi are put back in their tanks, I'm done with all of this. Latnok isn't worth all this stupid 'henchmen' stuff. I think I'll just go get a job at Madacorp, I've already been offered a position three times now." Nate said simply, sitting on a large chair.

"Why don't you do that _now?_" Brian seethed.

Nate turned the filter back on, stood up, and walked over to the desk.

"Because, first Kyle and Jessi have to go 'bye-bye'" he smiled.

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-LINE BREAK-

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"Adam… is that really you?" Kyle asked.

A small menu interface popped up on screen. It scrolled through a hundred possible choices before settling on 'Really You'. The video flickered to Adam wearing a different shirt and smiling.

"Yes, Kyle, this is really me. This is a program I've worked on for most of my seclusion, it enables me to live on from beyond the grave." He said.

"How does it work?" Kyle asked and the menu selected 'Immortality'.

The video flickered again, this time there was rain on the window behind Adam and he looked much younger.

"The Immortality program works by joining hundreds of clips of myself throughout my life, answering questions on any number of subjects. Through this program, I hope I will still be able to mentor and teach after I am gone." Adam said with a smile.

"Kyle, it's just a computer program." Amanda pointed out.

The menu scrolled through and selected 'Kyle', the video flickered to Adam wearing the same clothes Kyle had last seen him in.

"Kyle, if you are watching this then not only have you discovered my last secret but you still have Jessi. The door was designed to open only to a pair of people with your abilities, and I'm glad to see that you did indeed reconcile with her. Together, you can accomplish things that I had never even imagined, and shape the world into a place of peace and knowledge." Adam said happily.

"Adam, can you tell us about new abilities?" Jessi asked, the menu scrolled through and selected 'Future'.

This Adam looked much more worn than the previous, and he was wearing tattered clothing.

"Kyle, if you have any remaining questions I'm sure they will have to do with your abilities. I have categorized anything that I, myself, have attempted. Be sure to scroll through the menus, Kyle, and not rely only on voice commands." He sighed, and turned around before the video cut.

Kyle grasped the mouse and began to scroll through the categories and sub-categories. There were over ten thousand clips on the program which explained the necessity for more than one computer tower. He went into the category of 'Latnok' and looked through the sub-categories: Personnel, Organization, Structure, History, Sub-Companies, and finally Szokeveny. Kyle selected 'Personnel' and a video of Adam recovering from his gunshot appeared.

"Kyle, by now you are probably aware that Brian Taylor claims he is Jessi's father. If true, then you may wonder if you have a mother… you do. Her name is Grace Kingsley and she is on the board at Latnok now. One day you will meet her, Kyle, and I hope she cares for you as she did when you were still in the tank. The rest of the board is comprised of anonymous names, although some you may recognize: Michael Fredericks, he is an executive at Madacorp's automotive sector. Lucy Chu, she is on the board for University of Washington and also head of the English building. Bernard Fowler, he's in politics, attempting to go for senator. Michael Harrison, he's the owner of several law firms in the Seattle area." Adam listed, but Jessi clicked 'Pause'.

"Did he just say, Harrison?" she asked, looking at Kyle.

"You don't think it's Nate's father?" Kyle wondered, Jessi nodded.

"If it is, that explains a lot. Like why Nate is helping Cassidy. I don't understand why Adam hasn't mentioned Cassidy yet though… turn audio control back on." Jessi said, and Kyle did.

"Michael Cassidy." Jessi said clearly, the menu selected 'Grace Kingsley' from the 'Zzyzx' tab.

A video of Adam, looking much more like Kyle than he ever had before, flickered on.

"So, this is my third recording for the journal… um, I guess I'll talk a little about Grace. Grace Kingsley is an exchange student from Oxford who is currently helping me design the pod for the experiment, she's really a genius at mechanical things. Oh, let's see… she's got dark hair, and wears really bright red lipstick… she's got a son named Michael back in London. She's really good at gauging my emotions, and helping out when I'm stressed. I'm lucky to have her." Adam smiled.

Jessi frowned at the glowing review of Grace Kingsley as Kyle clicked through the 'Abilities' tab and found 'Outside Effect'. He clicked on it and a video of Baylin appearing older than he had thus far appeared.

"Kyle, you know now that you and Jessi can communicate with each other like two computers from almost any conceivable distance. You will eventually want to try this with a different person, someone unlike the two of you. This is possible, Kyle, but it is very dangerous and you should try to avoid toying with it. To break into someone else's mind will require a huge amount of energy, from both you and the person in question. Once inside, however, you will be able to control them, with no barriers or safeguards. Tom and I have developed a device that will allow this ability to be practiced with anyone, but you have to be careful Kyle, if you overload the device and the person has no guards up then you could fry their neural circuits. I have developed several devices with the help of Latnok that only you and I can use, although Jessi and Sarah could theoretically use them as well." Adam smiled, his skin fading grey as he spoke.

A panel in the wall opened up and displayed several devices under a glass-like material. One opened to reveal a small, black earpiece. Jessi approached and picked it up, then turned it on. Another, unseen, monitor flickered on in the back of the room. Kyle stood and approached it, and the screen displayed a complex program that had more tabs than the 'Immortality' program interface did. As Jessi put it on, status bars displaying her neural activity appeared on screen.

"New User identified, name and password setup activated." It said politely.

"Jessi Taylor, no password." Jessi said with a shrug.

"Jessi Taylor, public user. Beginning neural scan, please wait." The program said, as a 3D image of Jessi's brain appeared on the screen.

Tabs began to swiftly appear, and then disappear into sorted folders. Things like 'Memories' and 'Opinions', all the way to 'Instincts' and 'Knowledge' which took the longest to load.

"This is incredible, it's mapping out your brain, Jessi, so when I'm trying to hack in my energies are actually affecting the _program_ instead of you." Kyle said, amazed.

"That was my idea." Jessi said, sticking her tongue out.

"Do you think this thing has a max range?" Kyle asked, examining the earpiece.

"Probably, this is a lot of power to sustain for a long range piece of equipment." Jessi pointed out, gesturing to the computer towers.

"Computer, what is the maximum effective range for the headset?" Kyle asked, feeling slightly foolish.

"Maximum range unknown. Furthest distance traveled was 72.4 miles, effectiveness continued to register 100% efficiency." The program announced.

"That's within the limits of the house." Jessi pointed out.

"That's almost all of Seattle, we can choose the practice grounds." Kyle smiled.

"So, we can go now?" Amanda asked, slightly impatient at being ignored.

"We'll leave when Kyle has looked at everything he wants to look at. This is everything Adam Baylin ever did or was." Jessi said sternly, looking at her with a disgruntled expression.

"We probably should get back… Jessi, hold onto that. I don't know that we can make a new user from the distance so I'll need you to be the one to use it okay?" Kyle asked kindly.

Jessi nodded and walked towards the door with Kyle following her. Suddenly, a small shock of energy connected with the back of Kyle's head and he shook it off, barely noticing. The three walked out and Kyle and Jessi closed the door, prompting the headset to blink.

"Exiting sight of monitor, audio notifications turned on." It announced.

"Great." Jessi smiled, as did Kyle.

_With Adam's device, Jessi and I would be able to practice my mental spikes without fear of harming her or anyone else. Once I had mastered the technique, we could finally stop Latnok and Cassidy, and earn the right to have our lives back._

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-LINE BREAK-

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Mark ran into Stephen as he was walking back to his classroom, earning the latter to sigh and roll his eyes.

"Look, Mr. Trager, I understand that you can't trust me but maybe this will help: All my life, I've felt left out and looked down on. I felt alone, for so much of my life, that I started to get really depressed that that was all life was, but then I joined Latnok and became a _part_ of something. I felt like I belonged there, with people who felt the same way I did. You see this? This is my hard drive, everything that connects me to Latnok is here and I'm throwing it away." He said breathlessly, Stephen raised his eyebrows.

"Why would you…?" Stephen began.

"Because that's the cost of leaving Latnok, and leaving Latnok is the price for being able to be with Lori, Mr. Trager, so I hope that you see how much Lori means to me." Mark sighed, looking at Stephen seriously.

Mark began to walk away, but Stephen grabbed him lightly and turned him around again.

"You're leaving Latnok, just for Lori?" he asked, skeptically.

"No. Not just for Lori, I'm leaving for Kyle and Jessi and Josh… for you and Nicole. Because now I'm part of something else, I'm part of _this_, whatever it is, and Latnok is on the wrong side." Mark looked into Stephen's eyes.

"I'm not going to be on the wrong side, Stephen, I choose to be one of the good guys." He said clearly, and removed Stephen's hand.

He turned and walked away, breathing heavily. As he approached the exit, Stephen groaned and called out, "Mark!"

Mark turned back to him and Stephen smiled and sighed.

"We're having a 'good guy' dinner tomorrow night, you're welcome to come join us!" he said loudly, smiling slightly.

Mark's face broke into a wide smile and he gave Stephen a 'thumbs up', then raced out of the building. He raced across the quad to the Faculty of Science building and swiftly descended the stairs with joy. He jogged into Brian's office and slammed the hard drive down on his desk gleefully.

"There it is, that's all you need right?" he asked, out of breath with excitement.

"Actually, Mark, there's something else we need from you mate." Cassidy said from behind him.

Mark turned around swiftly but was slammed onto the desk by Nate. After Cassidy made a few taps on his tablet computer, Brian stood and turned Mark's head so his neck was exposed.

"What the hell is this? Let me go!" Mark yelled, kicking his legs.

Nate gripped him tightly as Cassidy placed a black square to the side of Mark's neck, and squeezed the sides. Something shot into Mark and his eyes grew wide as the tablet opened up a new program.

"Sorry, Mark, but no one leaves Latnok." Cassidy said with a smile.

Nate released him and Mark stood, shaking his head at Cassidy's command.

"Now, Mark, you're going to go to that dinner and you're going to get Kyle and Jessi to tell you about their pans, got it?" Cassidy asked.

Mark nodded and wandered away slowly, Cassidy smiled.

"I think we just won the game, gentlemen." He announced.

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-LINE BREAK-

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Kyle XY, Season Four. Every Wednesday


End file.
